GM Indonesia projects sales of 2,000 cars

SURABAYA (JP): General Motors Indonesia is projecting sales of between 1,600 and 2,000 units of its sport utility vehicles this year, the company's director for sales, marketing, service and parts, David Purcell, said on Wednesday.

"Our East Java market is expected to contribute about 400 units of the total estimated sales," Purcell said following the official launch of Montera, the new Opel Blazer, for the East Java and Bali markets.

The company launched Opel Montera in Jakarta last month. The car has an off the road cost in Jakarta of about Rp 130 million (about US$17,000 at current rate). The vehicle is less expensive than Opel Blazer's earlier versions, Blazer LT and Blazer DOHC, which sell for Rp 209.49 million and Rp 188.67 million.

Purcell said the company believed the new Montera would be able to compete in the increasingly popular family jeep class due to its reasonable price.

"For the Montera we use more local content, about 35 percent, in an effort to keep the price down and make it more attractive to the market," he said.

He said the company was upbeat that the Opel Blazer series would be able to take advantage of the recovering domestic car market.

According to the Association of Indonesian Automotive Industries (Gaikindo), total car sales in the domestic market surged by 82.5 percent to 8,610 units in July, from 4,719 units in June.

"We are optimist that Opel Blazer can take a bigger portion of the market next year when domestic car sales are predicted to reach between 50,000 and 60,000 units," Purcell said.

He said the economic crisis had affected the company's car sales. "Sales of the Opel Blazer series dropped by 78 percent in 1998," he said, adding that total sales of sport utility vehicles in the country plunged 86 percent in the same period.

Based on Gaikindo's report, General Motors Indonesia's sales of Opel Blazer dropped to 399 units in the first half this year, from 731 units sold in the first half of 1998. (nur/cst)