Ford Credit forms Indonesian joint venture

Ford Credit forms Indonesian joint venture

DEARBORN, Michigan, USA (Reuter): Ford Credit International Inc said it and PT Indomobil Investment Corp. have formed a joint venture company in Indonesia to provide automotive financing to Ford and Indomobil dealers and customers.

PT Primus Financial Services is 55 percent owned by Ford Credit, a unit of Ford Motor Co., and 45 percent by Indomobil, the second largest vehicle assembler and distributor in Indonesia.

Based in Jakarta, Primus Financial Services initially will provide retail financing to Indomobil and Ford customers, the companies said.

As part of the joint venture agreement, Primus Financial has purchased Indomobil's ownership in Indoarta, an automotive financing joint venture with dealers in Surabaya, Indonesia's second largest city.

Primus Financial plans to establish additional finance company joint ventures with dealers in other major metropolitan areas throughout Indonesia.

The new joint venture will be managed by president director John Kring and finance director Barry Satz comes to the company from Ford Credit. Its operations director, Hosea Sanjaya is a former director of Indoarta.

Indomobil has annual sales of 79,000 vehicles and 200,000 motorcycles, with revenues totaling US$1.7 billion, Ford Credit said.

Ford sold about 3,000 vehicles in Indonesia in 1995. The automaker said it plans to introduce a new entry in the market during 1996 and is investigating manufacturing and assembly opportunities in Indonesia.