Bakrie Investindo permitted to produce vans next year
Bakrie Investindo permitted to produce vans next year
JAKARTA (JP): PT Bakrie Investindo has received a permit from
the Ministry of Industry and Trade to produce vans next year with
an investment of about US$100 million, the company's president
said.
"We received the industrial permit last week and hope to
receive an investment license for the van production from the
Investment Coordinating Board next month and a brand permit from
the Ministry of Justice in six months," Anton Setianto told
reporters here Friday
The van's brand name will be Bakrie, he said.
The company is scheduled to start trial production of its car
in September,1997 and to launch it in December 1997, Anton said.
He said he was optimistic that all the required legal
procedures and pre-production processes will be completed on
time, so that the launching will be conducted on schedule.
Bakrie Investindo, the investment arm of Bakrie Group, was
recently reported to have had difficulties obtaining permits from
the government for its planned manufacture of vans. Reports
speculated that the government did not want the Group to disturb
the plans of PT Timor Putra Nasional, owned by President
Soeharto's youngest son Hutomo (Tommy) Mandala Putra, to produce
a national car.
Anton denied that his company had such difficulties, and said
that the process of obtaining the permits would run smoothly.
The car-making plan dates back three years and the first test
drive of its prototype by Bakrie Group's president Aburizal
Bakrie was conducted in August at the Leyland Technical Center in
Preston, Britain.
"The prototype still needs another 1,000 trials to ensure that
it is of the best quality before it is launched," said Anton.
Bakrie Investindo's employees designed the vehicle in
conjunction with the Britain-based Creative Automotive Design.
The van will be produced at the PT Ningz Pacific Motor plant
in the Lippo Industrial Estate in Cikarang, West Java, where
Bakrie Investindo holds a 10 percent stake. ST-Logistics
Singapore will support it by supplying components.
The planed van, to be equipped with a gasoline engine of
2000cc or diesel engine of 1,900cc, is designed to hold eight
passengers and have its gears on the dashboard. It will use
multi-source components, including Peugeot engines from France.
Bakrie vans will be sold at between Rp 35 million (US$14,830)
and Rp 60 million ($25,423) have reportedly attracted many
distributors even though production is still a year away.
"Tens of domestic distributors have applied to distribute our
vans. One application has come from Malaysia," he said.
Anton said the Bakrie car project is wholly owned by Bakrie
Investindo, which has invested $20 million in the design and
production of prototypes.
The company aims to sell 10,000 vans in the first year of
production, 15,000 units in the second year, and between 18,000
and 19,000 units in the third year. In the fourth year, the
company hopes to reach a break-even point.
Anton said the local content of the planned van will reach 40
percent in the first year of production, 50 percent in the second
year and 60 percent in the third year. (jsk)