Daihatsu launches new five-seat Taruna minivan
JAKARTA (JP): After a one-year delay, car manufacturer PT Astra Daihatsu Motor launched on Thursday its new minivan amid a sluggish domestic automotive market.
Company vice president Yohannes Nangoi said the 1,600-cc Daihatsu Taruna minivan would target both the family van and medium-size sedan markets.
"We expect to sell up to 5,000 units this year," he said.
The five-seat Taruna comes in three versions with retail prices set at Rp 86.9 million (US$12,414) for the standard CL version, Rp 101.9 million for the deluxe CX version and Rp 106.9 million for the superdeluxe CSX version.
Nangoi said the company began to manufacture the Taruna in 1996 and initially planned to launch the minivan in the first quarter of 1996.
The launch, however, was delayed due to the unfavorable economic and political situation in the country, he said.
He acknowledged current conditions were not ideal for launching a new automobile.
"We know market demand is still low. But the general election has passed, resulting in a relatively calm situation, so we decided to launch (the minivan) now with the hope that the market will improve next year," Nangoi said.
There were fears the political campaign and general election on June 7 would lead to unrest similar to the riots in May last year in which hundreds of people were killed.
Astra Daihatsu, a joint venture between Indonesian automotive giant Astra International and Daihatsu Motor of Japan, said the local automotive market would remain sluggish this year despite signs of economic recovery.
Domestic car demand could continue to fall due to a decline in people's purchasing power as a result of the country's prolonged economic crisis, the company said.
It estimated local automobile demand would reach only about 50,000 units this year, compared to 67,000 units in 1998 and 392,000 units in 1997.
Recovery
The company predicts domestic automobile demand will begin to recover beginning next year due to an expected recovery of the country's economy.
It estimated domestic automobile sales would double to about 12,000 units.
Nangoi said the company would maintain automobile assembly as its core business despite the recent move by the government to scrap tax incentives for automobiles with high local content.
The termination of tax breaks for automobiles with high local content is part of the government's new automotive policy, which also includes a drastic cut of import duties for foreign-made vehicles.
However, Nangoi said the company would continue to locally produce its Daihatsu vehicles, including the Feroza jeep and Espass family minivan, despite the new policy.
"We are going to boost our production and exports for both car components and CBU cars," he said. CBU is the acronym for completely built-up vehicles.
"However, for the Feroza, we will stop its production if it fails to compete with the new Taruna," he said.
He said the company, anticipating vast growth in the domestic automobile market through 2000, invested around Rp 500 billion in its assembly facilities before the economic crisis hit the country in mid-1997.
The managing director of Japan's Daihatsu Motor Co., Ltd., Kentaro Shimizu, said the company might begin to export its small-engine CBU sedans to Indonesia to take advantage of the lower import tariffs.
Daihatsu Motor's small-engine sedans hold a large stake in the Japanese market.
Astra Daihatsu Motor is controlled by publicly listed PT Astra International, which holds a 50 percent stake in the company, and Japanese Daihatsu Motor Co., Ltd. and Nichimen Corp., which share the remaining 50 percent stake.
The company sold approximately 6,000 units last year. It plans to produce up to 8,000 units, or 14 percent of total domestic demand, in 1999.(cst)