General Motors Indonesia optimist on 2000 sales target

JAKARTA (JP): PT General Motors Indonesia (GMI) is confident it will be able to meet its target of selling 7,000 cars this year despite fears that political uncertainty could hamper a recovery in the automotive market during the second quarter of the year.

GMI president Luis F.F. Madaleno said on Thursday that he believed political uncertainty would not last long and the government would be able to cope with the problems.

"I would say that we're still very optimistic for the second half of the year," GMI president Luis F.F. Madaleno announced at a news conference.

He said as of June 2000, the company had sold 3,000 of its Opel Blazer sport utility vehicle (SUV) series.

The automotive industry has enjoyed growing sales especially since the election of President Abdurrahman Wahid in October, which helped ease tension surrounding the country's political condition. But analysts have said consumer confidence is declining as political uncertainty increases.

"But I really expect that some uncertainty in the market will be overcome," he said.

GMI underlined its optimism with plans to introduce its Chevrolet brand to the Indonesian market some time this year.

He said with the entrance of Chevrolet, GMI would represent two car brands in the Indonesian market.

However, Madaleno declined to say when Chevrolet was slated to enter Indonesia, saying only that it might be after August.

He said Chevrolet was selected for Indonesia because the brand offered more variety of models and was present in several Asia Pacific markets.

Besides Chevrolet, he said, the company would introduce other brands to Indonesia as part of its new retail strategy called GM AutoWorld.

The GM AutoWorld concept will allow the sales of various GM brands under one dealer, with after sales services backed up by the company's global resources, Madaleno explained.

The General Motors' brands are Chevrolet, Cadillac, Buick, GMC, Hummer, Holden, Saturn, Pontiac, SAAB, Opel and Vauxhall.

GM AutoWorld has been adopted in Taiwan and South Korea with the Philippines and Indonesia soon following, the company's media release said.

He said the 39 Opel Blazer dealers across Indonesia would gradually adopt the new concept of GM AutoWorld.

GMI marketing director Kris A. Mayer said the company planned to first introduce the concept to eight dealers in the areas of Jakarta and Bandung. (bkm)