Emerging Trend: Indonesian Residents Reluctant to Upgrade New Cars, This Business Profits

Indonesia’s automotive industry is facing a slowdown in new vehicle sales. However, the spare parts business is showing the opposite trend. This phenomenon is partly driven by a change in middle-class consumer behaviour, who now tend to keep their cars longer than before.

Marketing and Corporate Communication Director of PT Astra Daihatsu Motor (ADM), Sri Agung Handayani, revealed that previously consumers often replaced vehicles after a few years of use, but now that trend is changing. Many car owners choose to keep their vehicles longer while increasing maintenance intensity.

“If it’s first-time car buyers who used to replace by selling their old vehicles, now they use them longer (maybe not every five years anymore). To prevent the car from breaking down quickly, they maintain it better,” said Agung to CNBC Indonesia on Sunday (22/3/2026).

One of the main drivers of this growth is the increasing consumer awareness in vehicle maintenance. Car owners now tend to keep their vehicles in better condition to use them longer.

“There are more customers who maintain their vehicles very well and use the units longer than before,” she said.

ADM itself has a very large vehicle base in the domestic market. Since operating in Indonesia in 1978, the company has produced more than 9 million vehicles. Of that number, around 4 million units are still in operation, forming the basis for the company’s after-sales services globally and domestically.

“The units still in operation are around 4 million. Specifically for Daihatsu in Indonesia, around 1.5 million units that we service,” she said.

With such a large vehicle base, the spare parts business becomes one of the backbones of the company’s after-sales services. On average, the company’s spare parts sales have grown by around 10% each year in recent times.

“The increase is around almost 10% on average every year,” she said.

In addition to the change in consumer behaviour, the company is also making several operational improvements to sustain this business growth. One of them is accelerating the order fulfilment process and improving distribution accuracy.

The company now implements a real-time logistics distribution monitoring system to ensure spare parts deliveries are not delayed.

“We accelerate the fulfilment process and make it on time. Now there are no delayed trucks anymore,” she said.