Ford's Superstore in Surabaya

JAKARTA: PT Ford Motor Indonesia (FMI) has made a bold move by expanding its outlets across the country with another Superstore, this one in Surabaya, on May 24 just 10 days after opening a new Superstore in Semarang.

Surabaya residents contributed more than 70 percent of total vehicle sales in East Java in 2003 with 25,850 units out of some 40,000 units. In 2002, there were 37,000 vehicles sold in the province.

"As Indonesia's second biggest city, Surabaya provides big opportunities to Ford to take part in the automotive market here," PT FMI President director Will Angove said in a statement.

"We expect retail market will be the biggest part of our customer here," he added.

Other branches will open in Bandung, Makassar and Lampung. Meanwhile, Ford ASEAN operations director Michael McCarney said Indonesia had played an important role in the automotive industry in Southeast Asia region.

"It is predicted that total car sales will jump to some 400,000 units following the increase in people spending power," he said. -- JP