Analyst urges brand-holder agents to strengthen strategy amid consumer price sensitivity

Senior economist from Perbanas, Josua Pardede, has assessed that sole brand-holder agents (ATPM) need to strengthen their strategies to navigate increasingly price-sensitive market conditions in order to maintain sales in the coming semester. According to him, the Low Cost Green Car (LCGC) segment for the middle class is largely downgrading to the second-hand car market, making price competition unavoidable for ATPM as consumers become highly sensitive to this factor. Given the availability of lower-priced options, consumers tend to choose more affordable products.

“So this means ATPM must also reflect on whether continuously suppressing pricing will affect their performance, because ATPM also need to invest for the future,” Josua said after an automotive dialogue in Tangerang on Wednesday. The Deputy Chairman of the Standing Committee for Global Strategic Economic Studies at the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin) for the 2024–2029 period stated that ATPM need to formulate strategies to manage the current margin compression and also prepare allocations for investment, with the expectation that consumption conditions will improve in the future.

Josua hopes ATPM can expand and invest going forward as market conditions improve. He noted that currently, capital expenditure (capex) for most business players remains relatively limited due to global uncertainty and domestic policies that are perceived as not yet providing full certainty. “This means that if the government’s priority programme policies have not sufficiently spurred public spending, then perhaps that is what the government needs to highlight,” he said.

Previously, Finance Minister Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa stated that car sales growth is one indicator showing that domestic demand and purchasing power remain sustained. Car sales grew 32.9 percent year-on-year (yoy) in June 2026, while motorcycle sales grew 1.1 percent yoy. In this context, synergy between government regulation and industry readiness is crucial to strengthening the competitiveness of the national automotive industry. Such collaboration is considered key to maintaining the industry’s growth momentum while accelerating the transformation towards low-emission vehicle technology.