Car dealers, cautious over Pertamina's new fuel products
Fitri Wulandari, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Car dealers have cautiously welcomed the newly launched unleaded fuel products known by their trade names, Pertamax and Pertamax Plus, but questioned whether they would be an improvement over their predecessors, Premix and Super TT, both in terms of quality and distribution.
"As a car dealer, we want to know whether it is simply a change of brand name or whether the products are actually better than the previous ones," Christian S. Iskandar, vice president of PT Auto Euro Indonesia, which distributes Renault cars from France, told The Jakarta Post.
Djunaedi Hadiwidjaja, chief executive officer of PT Central Sole Agency, the authorized dealer for Sweden's Volvo cars, was of the same opinion, saying that "If they are meant to replace Premix and Super TT, than they should at least be as good as these are."
Launched on Dec. 10 in conjunction with Pertamina's 45th anniversary, Pertamax and Pertamax Plus are gradually replacing Premix and Super TT.
The car dealers, however, urged the government to improve the distribution of Pertamax and Pertamax Plus so as to make them available in a wider area.
"Super TT and Premix are difficult to find in areas outside Java and Sumatra. As a consequence, we cannot sell our cars in more remote regions such as Kalimantan as prospective buyers cannot find suitable fuel," Christian added.
Super TT is a high quality unleaded fuel. It is produced to cater to the demands of high compression engines and a more environmentally friendly fuel. It is characterized by its Research Octane Number (RON) of a minimum 95.
Premix is similar to Super TT but has a lower RON of 94.
Pertamax and Pertamax Plus have RONs of 92 and 95 respectively.
Premix and Super TT have only been available in big cities in Java and few cities in Sumatra and Kalimantan.
Super TT in particular is needed for vehicles produced from 1992 and equipped with a catalytic converter.
A catalytic converter is used to convert dangerous fuel emissions into emissions that are friendly to the environment and human health
At present, most completely built-up vehicles are equipped with catalytic converters.
Pertamina spokesman Ridwan Nyak Baik said that at present Pertamax and Pertamax Plus were only available in areas in Jakarta such as Semanggi and Tanah Abang.
"By 2003, we hope they will have been marketed throughout Java and Bali. Gradually, they will be sold nationwide," he added.
Pertamax is sold at Rp 2,300 per liter, Rp 100 lower than Premix. While Pertamax Plus is sold at Rp 2,500 per liter, similar to Super TT.
Christian said that the Super TT sold in gas stations often had lower RON than claimed.
"As a result, the vehicles cannot perform well. Although there has been no research done ... in a long term, this could damage the vehicles," he said.
Djunaedi added that he heard many complaints from car owners saying that Premix formed a sediment inside the gas tank.
"It gives imperfect combustion and finally jams the engine," he said.
"Overall, we just want fuel that is environmentally friendly but also suitable for international standard engines," Christian asserted.
Ridwan Nyak Baik, Pertamina's spokesman quickly denied the allegation saying that Pertamax and Pertamax Plus gave a better and faster engine combustion performance without causing a detonation effect.
"And the emissions are cleaner because both are unleaded fuels," he stressed, adding that Pertamax and Pertamax Plus were the latest attempt by the company to catch up with the latest automotive technology.
Further, Ridwan said that although all four fuels had nearly the same RON, the additives in Pertamax and Pertamax Plus were much better than those in Premix and Super TT.
Pertamina has given assurances that car owners can change over directly from Premix and Super TT to Pertamax and Pertamax Plus.
The company said it would directly handle the branding and marketing of Pertamax and Pertamax Plus. Premix and Super TT were marketed by Pertamina's subsidiary PT El Nusa.