BMW tops luxury car market in Indonesia

By John Aglionby

BMW has overtaken its German rival Mercedes-Benz as the top selling luxury carmaker in Indonesia.

The general manager of sole distributor PT Tjahja Sakti Motor Corp, Bintoro Tjitrowirjo, said sales had soared 85.5 percent in the first three months of this year compared to the same period last year.

Bintoro said much of the increase was due to BMW's unrivaled after-sales service.

"We really make an effort to take care of our customers after they have bought their car through our BMW VIP service. Other brands cannot offer what we offer with regard to after-sales services," Bintoro said.

The company's package includes fully comprehensive insurance, free breakdown repairs and a parts warranty.

BMW sold 1,074 cars in Indonesia in the three months to March, compared to 579 in the same period for 1996. The percentage increase was greater than in any other Southeast Asian country.

"Selling cars is all about product, image and backup. At BMW, we feel we have got the combination right. It also helps that BMWs are distributed through a well-known company," Bintoro said in a reference to Tjahja Sakti being part of the Astra stable.

Strong sales of BMW's latest 5 series model was the main reason for the large increase. "People are buying the 5 series because they see it as very good value for money," he said.

"Most of the buyers have been abroad and know what it costs elsewhere and can see they are getting a good deal here."

The rise in Indonesian sales was part of an overall increase in the region that saw BMW increase sales in the first quarter by 33 percent over the same period last year.

BMW's regional communications manager Ramesh Divyanathan said: "The figures, particularly for Indonesia, were well what we expected. Apart from Thailand, which took a bit of a hammering, we are very pleased with the sales to date in 1997."

The German carmaker sold 6,000 cars to the end of March in its six major markets of Taiwan, Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore and Hong Kong. This was up from the 4,500 sold in the first quarter of 1996.

In addition to Indonesia, sales also rose by 85 percent in Singapore and 82 percent in Taiwan.

Thailand and Hong Kong were the only Southeast Asian countries where sales fell in the first quarter.

"There have been political and economic uncertainties there which haven't been to the same extent elsewhere," Divyanathan said.