Bimantara plans to expand its passenger car lineup

By Russell Williamson

FOLLOWING the sales success of the Cakra and Nenggala cars, Bimantara plans to launch another small-medium Hyundai-derived passenger car about the middle of next year.

Although details of the vehicle remain under wraps, given the present market conditions and Hyundai's vehicle lineup, the car is likely to be either the Sonata or Coupe.

The Sonata is a Honda Accord/Toyota Corona sized vehicle which is available with a choice of two engines in its domestic South Korean market.

The two four-cylinder DOHC beta engines of 1800cc and 2000cc capacity are also joined by a 3000cc V6 available in some export markets.

The car provides plenty of space inside, good performance from the 2000cc engine with a firm yet supple suspension.

Depending on the model, the vehicle is offered with standard equipment, including dual air bags, antilock brakes (ABS), air conditioning, electric windows and mirrors, and remote central locking.

While the Sonata would be a practical choice for Bimantara to round out its existing product lineup by offering a larger, more powerful family sedan, the Coupe -- or Tiburon as it is known in some export markets -- would give the company an image leader.

The Hyundai Coupe is a sleek muscular looking two-door coupe with seating for two adults in the front and two small children in the rear.

Based on the Elantra -- or Nenggala -- sedan, the Coupe is powered by a choice of 1800cc or 2000cc four-cylinder engines driving the front wheels through a five-speed manual or four- speed automatic transmission.

To make the most out of its sports car looks, the suspension was tuned by Porsche, which has resulted in a car which maintains excellent road manners under the harshest treatment.

The ride is on the firm side to maintain stability but is not so harsh as to feel every small stone through the seat of your pants.

Front discs and rear drums provide braking power on the base car while four wheel discs with ABS are offered on the higher- level models.

Other equipment offered, depending on the model, includes remote central locking, dual air bags, air conditioning, leather trim, electric windows and mirrors and a radio cassette player.

The addition of either model next year will further improve Bimantara's fortunes and help the company build on its growing success in the passenger car market.

Despite the drop in the overall market this year, the president director of PT Bimantara Cakra Nusa, Jongkie Sugiarto, said the company was not affected as badly as some might think.

He said although sales were slow for about six months, largely due to the national car issue, since October, there has been a slight recovery in the market and orders for Cakra had well and truly exceeded expectations.

"Between March and October, there was uncertainty and people were waiting to see what happened," Jongkie said.

"There was uncertainty on the consumer side as well as the industry side, therefore, it is no wonder why the sales dropped 15 percent to 20 percent this year to about 330,000," he said.

Since Cakra was launched at the end of July, Bimantara has taken more than 1,500 orders for the car, although Jongkie said it would probably be able to only deliver about 1,100 by the end of the year.

"We did not know whether people would still buy because of the price of the Timor car. But after we launched, we had a very good responses from the customers," Jongkie said.

"It was then hard to immediately increase the production because of the supply from Korea and our lead time is about 4 months to 5 months," he said.

However, while the Hyundai joint venture is proving a success, the same cannot be said for negotiations between Bimantara's other potential automotive partner, Ford.

Jongkie said Bimantara, through its subsidiary Indonesian Republic Motor Company (IRMC), had hoped to launch the UK-built Escort early next year, however, slow negotiations on the joint venture have now put that in doubt.

"There is still uncertainty about the joint venture between Ford Motor Company and IRMC, therefore, the launch of the Escort has to be postponed as well," Jongkie said.

Jongkie said IRMC began negotiations with Ford about two years ago to try and get products from sources other than Japan.

He said the problem with the Japanese-sourced Laser was that it is a rebadged Mazda 323 -- a franchise which is held in Indonesia by Indomobil.

Jongkie said while there were a number of factors affecting the negotiations with Ford, the Timor car issue had further compounded the problems.

"The business plan has to be changed because when we were talking about the business plan there was not a national car," Jongkie said.

"Therefore the volume has to be changed and the model has to be changed and it was postponing or delaying the whole process of the JV," he said.