Diesel Price Surge Leads Many Diesel Car Owners to Sell Their Vehicles
JAKARTA – The rise in the price of non-subsidised diesel fuel is beginning to impact the used car market, particularly vehicles with diesel engines.
Andi, one of the sales staff at Jordy Mobil showroom in MGK Kemayoran, Central Jakarta, said that the trend in sales of used diesel cars is currently increasing from the supply side.
This is driven by many owners choosing to offload their vehicles following the significant rise in diesel prices.
“Many diesel car owners have been selling their cars since the diesel price increased. The rise can be up to 30 percent,” Andi told Kompas.com on Wednesday (6/5/2026).
According to him, this situation is also affecting the resale value of diesel cars in the used car market. However, overall, the depreciation of diesel vehicles remains within a reasonable range.
From the demand side, Andi mentioned that diesel cars still have their own market, especially outside the city. Consumers from rural areas are still seen as needing this type of vehicle to support business activities.
“Those buying diesel cars are mostly traders from rural areas. In certain regions, diesel cars still have interest,” he said.
Nevertheless, he added that this interest is more directed towards older production year diesel cars. One reason is that these vehicles can still use biosolar fuel.
“But mostly older years that can still use biosolar,” said Andi.
Meanwhile, from the business perspective, Andi admitted to being more cautious in adding stock of diesel cars. He even chose to delay purchasing new units until there is clarity on the development of diesel fuel going forward.
“If it’s me, I don’t want to buy diesel cars yet, perhaps until the B50 diesel comes out,” he said.
A similar situation is felt by Agus, owner of Focus Motor showroom. According to him, the rise in the price of non-subsidised diesel has caused the used diesel car market to experience quite significant slowdown.
“Because the diesel price has really increased, but we also have plans not to buy, but to buy with a 10 to 15 percent discount from the market price,” said Agus.
He said that the decline in sales has been felt since the price of non-subsidised diesel rose. Even sales are said to have dropped quite drastically compared to the previous period.
Agus explained that before the diesel price rose, sales at his showroom were quite stable. In one week, the units sold could reach dozens of vehicles.
“In the past, at my place, on average a week could sell around 15 to 30 units. Now it’s experiencing a slowdown, selling only around 7 to 10 units,” he said.