Astra plans to build low-priced sedan

Astra plans to build low-priced sedan

JAKARTA (JP): PT Toyota Astra Motor, a Japanese-Indonesian
joint venture, will produce a new sedan in 1999 with a price tag
of between Rp 35 million (US$14,385) and Rp 40 million, a company
director said.

Johnny Darmawan said Wednesday the 1,600-cc car would be a
modification of Toyota's Soluna car. This is being produced in
Thailand in cooperation with Toyota Motors of Japan under its
Asia Car program.

He said that Toyota Astra, a publicly listed company partly
owned by Toyota Motors, would invest US$75 million to build a
factory in Cikampek, West Java, to produce the car.

Production would start by the end of next year with an output
rate of about 20,000 to 30,000 cars a year, he said.

Darmawan said Indonesia and Thailand were the only countries
appointed by Toyota Motors to produce its Asian cars.

Five Indonesian companies are competing in the domestic cheap
car market -- Timor, Bimantara Cakra, Suzuki Baleno, Honda City
and Daewoo Nexia. The Management Board for Strategic Industries
is now developing another cheap car, to be called Maleo.

Darmawan said the domestic sedan market was likely to grow by
25 percent this year, with the Timor car holding a market share
of more than 25 percent.

Last year 37,890 sedans were sold on the domestic market. (13)