Car sales up in August: Gaikindo

Car sales up in August: Gaikindo

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

New vehicle sales at home increased slightly by 0.8 percent to
27,119 units in August from July, the Indonesian Automakers
Association (Gaikindo) said on Tuesday.

Gaikindo said that commercial vehicles accounted for 24,678
units of total sales during the month, or a 1.6 percent increase
from July.

But the association said that sales volumes for passenger cars
declined to 2,441 units in August from 2,597 in the previous
month.

It added that the country's largest car maker PT Astra
International also suffered a 4.2 percent decline in sales volume
to 10,849 units from 11,328 units.

Vehicle sales is seen as an indicator of consumer confidence.
A rising confidence is positive for the economy as the government
is relying on domestic consumption as the main source of economic
growth this year as exports and investments have been weakening
due to various uncertainties at home and overseas.

This year's economic growth is projected at around 4 percent.

Domestic car sales has been on the rise recently as people are
getting more confident to purchase new vehicles amid stronger
rupiah against the U.S. dollar, lower inflation, and a relatively
stable political situation.

The rupiah has been strengthening since the beginning of this
year, and now is hovering at around Rp 8,900 per dollar.

The robust sales prompted Gaikindo to revise upward its 2002
car sales forecast to 320,000 units from the initial projection
of 300,000 units.

Total new vehicle sales at home has so far have reached
212,919, Gaikindo said.

Industry experts have also said that the stronger domestic car
sales marked the recovery of the country's automotive industry
after it was hit by the late 1990s economic crisis.

Car makers in the Southeast Asian countries have also seen
their sales this year increasing.