BMW Indonesia eyes 19% jump in sales this year
Berni K. Moestafa, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
PT BMW Indonesia is targeting car sales to hit 3,000 vehicles this year, a rise of over 19 percent from last year's total of 2,418, which would mark yet another year that the firm has led the country's luxury car market.
BMW sales and marketing director Bintoro Tjitrowirjo expressed on Tuesday his confidence of meeting that target.
"As of September, BMW car sales grew by about 25 percent compared to the same period last year," Bintoro said after a media briefing.
Data from the Association of Indonesian Automotive Industries (Gaikindo) shows BMW selling 2,292 cars in the nine months to September. That compares to the 1,502 sold by its closest competitor, Mercedes Benz.
In the upper class car segment, BMW dominates the market with a share of 40 percent according to sales data in August.
Others are Mercedes with 21 percent, followed by Honda with 15 percent and Mitsubishi with 6 percent. Luxury car brands Audi and Volvo share the market by 3 percent and 2 percent respectively.
Last year, BMW ranked first with a 29 percent market share, while in 1999 it ranked second with a 19 percent share compared to Honda with a 23 percent share.
Visiting chairman of the board of management of BMW AG Joachim Milberg attributed BMW's solid sales to its marketing efforts.
He said in line with BMW's goal to lead the luxury car market, the company had adopted what he called a "product and market offensive".
"In the coming six years, we are planning 20 new models and three new engine series for the various market segments," Milberg explained.
That would cover among other things, different models of the X-series sport utility vehicle, and a range of BMW 1 and 6 series in addition to the existing BMW 3, 5 and 7 series.
The success here has also encouraged the company to further strengthen its presence by setting up PT BMW Indonesia, a direct subsidiary in charge of marketing and sales.
Sales of BMW cars were handled in the past by PT Astra International, which is now in charge of only assembling the car.