Good for all seasons, except when there's flooding

Good for all seasons, except when there's flooding

Hendarsyah Tarmizi, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

People have different reasons for buying a particular car. It
can be due to the popularity of the car's marque, its safety
specification, eye-catching design or sophisticated technology.

The sedan is one of the most popular vehicles for those who
put safety and convenience above all. The sedan is also often
referred to as a car for all seasons, of course, when there are
no floods, which have caused many people in the capital to suffer
a lot during the past few days.

Compared with other vehicles, sedans, which have a lower
ground clearance, are more vulnerable than other cars when
traveling along flooded roads. But of course not all of them.

Despite such a shortcoming, the sedan is one of the most
favored car types here. People not only buy the cars for their
safety, marque, or convenience, but also to show off their
status. Sedans are all about the status of their owners.

Senior government officials, for example, use expensive sedans
to show respect to their foreign guests. Businesspeople have
expensive limousines to gain the confidence and trust of their
business partners.

At a wedding ceremony, it is quite unusual if the newlywed
couple rides in a car other than a limousine.

Indonesia is one of Asia's most lucrative markets for such a
vehicle. Although the sedan market suffered a drop last year in
line with the fall in overall automobile demand, the prospect
remains promising, according to a car market analyst.

According to data provided by the association of Indonesian
car producers (Gaikindo), total sales of passenger cars (which
include sedans, 4 X 2 cars such as Kijang vans, and 4 X 4 cars
such as the Land Cruiser,) dropped by about 25 percent to 35,203
units last year, from 46,876 in 2000.

The figure contributed about 11 percent of total automobile
sales in 2001, which reached 299,629 units. The sales of other
vehicles, including commercial cars, totaled about 244,441 units,
or about 88.5 percent of total automotive sales.

Long-established players such as Toyota, Honda and Suzuki
continue to dominate the local sedan market despite the entry of
several new names, following the government's decision to allow
imports of completely-built-up sedans two years ago.

Previously the government only allowed the importation of cars
in completely-knocked-down (CKD) form in a bid to promote local
assembly activities.

In the mini category (1,500 cc), the Toyota Soluna, which was
only introduced to the market in early 2000, dominated last year,
with a market share of 37.4 percent.

Tailing behind were the Suzuki Baleno, with a market share of
22.6 percent and the Honda City, at 14.6 percent.

The three cars, which sell at Rp 140 million to Rp 175 million
(about US$16,600), became the best-selling cars in the domestic
market last year.

Market analysts contributed the Soluna's robust sales to
distributor PT Toyota Astra Motor's decision to allow sales of
the car to taxicab companies.

But TAM's marketing communications manager Hendrayadi Lastioso
said that sales of Solunas to taxicab companies were only a small
part of the total.

"Sales to taxicab companies were about 1,500 units, while
total sales reached 7,545 units," he told The Jakarta Post.

The market segment for small sedans is also dominated by
Toyota, with its Corolla car brand. Last year the Toyota Corolla
managed to book a market share of 52.1 percent in that category,
followed by the Honda Civic and Mitsubishi Lancer, with market
shares of 33.5 percent and 11.5 percent respectively.

Although Toyota has been quite successful in maintaining its
dominance in the two market categories, it failed to compete with
BMW and Mercedes in the medium and luxury sedan category.

In this market segment, the BMW 3 Series was the market leader
last year, with the Mercedes C series tailing behind at second
place, followed by Honda Accord.

Toyota Camry, which is also competing in the same class only
booked a market share of 9.4 percent.

"The newly introduced Camry, the replacement for the Toyota
Corona, is in the process of establishing its name. But the
market response has been quite good lately," Hendrayadi said.

The two European car makers also dominated the luxury sedan
market. The Mercedes E Series was the market leader in its class
last year, with a market share of 38.2 percent, followed by the
BMW 5 Series in second place at 33.73 percent. The Toyota Crown
occupied third position, at 6.22 percent.

Hendriyadi believed that the established market players would
continue to dominate the sedan market, although there was fierce
competition from new names, either from new car powerhouse South
Korea or European and American producers.