Luxury imported cars dominate automotive expo<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Expensive cars are dominating the automotive
\nshow currently being held at the Jakarta Convention Center as
\nlocal demand at the high end of the market is growing.<\/p>\n
Most of the cars are brought into Indonesia in completely
\nbuilt-up (CBU), and are becoming more popular with the wealthy.
\nPopular makes include Mercedes Benz, Ferrari, Audi and BMW, while
\nmany others are on display.<\/p>\n
The imported vehicles are mostly offered in rupiah, with
\nprices ranging from Rp 170 million (US$21,250) for KIA's new
\n1,800cc sedan Shuma to Rp 2.3 billion for the Ferrari 355fi.<\/p>\n
Only Land Rover's authorized dealer, PT Java Motors, offers
\nits imported Jeeps in U.S. dollars, ranging from $58,000 to
\n$150,000 per unit.<\/p>\n
The new models of the locally assembled Honda Accord
\nExclusive, Toyota Soluna, Daihatsu Taruna and Suzuki Karimun are
\nalso on show.<\/p>\n
Luxury car importers participating in the event said the
\nmarket for expensive imported cars remained promising, despite
\nthe fact that many Indonesian people were still suffering from
\nthe economic crisis.<\/p>\n
Wealthy customers have no qualms about spending a great deal
\nof money to get their preferred cars, they said.<\/p>\n
The Association of Indonesian Automotive Industries (Gaikindo)
\nestimates that about 2,000 units of imported CBU vehicles were
\nsold in March and April, compared to an average 1,000 units sold
\nper month in the precrisis period.<\/p>\n
PT Terminal Automotive, an authorized dealer of the imported
\nKIA cars here, said the demand for its products was positive and
\nthat since February it had been selling about 30 cars priced
\nbetween Rp 170 million and Rp 265 million per month.<\/p>\n
Sanny, a representative of Sanggar Mobil, one of several
\nluxurious car importers specializing in Mercedes Benzes and the
\nnew VW Beetle, said some of the visitors had seriously considered
\nbuying the cars although no one had come to a decision so far.<\/p>\n
He said buyers were careful when choosing the importers they
\nwould buy the cars from, because they wanted to make sure the
\ncars were legally imported and came with all the necessary
\ndocuments.<\/p>\n
"This is sort of a black market in a sense ... that we sell
\ncars which are not officially displayed in a showroom, but in
\nsmall advertisements in newspapers," he told The Jakarta Post at
\nthe showground.<\/p>\n
Another luxury car importer said that although most of the
\nimporters brought the cars into the country legally they did not
\nprovide after sales service or guarantees.<\/p>\n
"Our business is car importation only. Maintenance and repairs
\nare handled by the authorized importers or existing car repair
\ncenters," he said.<\/p>\n
He said people insisted on buying imported CBU cars because
\nthe vehicles were totally different from the luxurious locally
\nassembled ones.<\/p>\n
However, many of the authorized importers and repair centers
\nrefused to handle cars imported by general importers, according
\nto the operations director of PT Java Motors, Andi Kosala.<\/p>\n
"It is not that we are against general importers, but we
\ncannot be responsible for cars that are not imported by the
\nauthorized distributors, some of which were not designed for the
\nAsian market," he said.<\/p>\n
He said some repair centers would handle cars bought from
\ngeneral importers, but would charge more and give no guarantees.<\/p>\n
Fewer than 50 general importers have rushed into the luxury
\ncar import business since the government liberalized the
\ncountry's car imports earlier this year.<\/p>\n
The importers reportedly sell between five to 17 luxurious
\ncars each per month and make an average of Rp 20 million in
\nprofit.<\/p>\n
According to Gaikindo, total domestic car sales in the first
\nquarter of this year increased to 51,169 units from 578 units
\nsold in the same period last year.<\/p>\n
Total sales of domestic cars this year are expected to reach
\nabout 240,000 units as against 94,000 units sold nationwide last
\nyear. (cst)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/luxury-imported-cars-dominate-automotive-expo-1447893297",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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