Indomobil expects sales growth despite national elections

Indomobil expects sales growth despite national elections

Sandy Darmosumarto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Next year's general elections are not a factor for Gunadi
Sindhuwinata, president of automobile maker PT Indomobil Sukses
Makmur, to maintain his confidence that his company will enjoy
sales growth in 2004.

"Our targeted sales in 2003 is for 82,000 units. We expect to
sell 85,000 cars next year," said Gunadi on Tuesday at the
launching ceremony of the Renault showroom renovation project.

"In 2004, there will only be about ten months of effective
production periods due to the general elections and regular
national holidays. Even with the shortened year, we will still be
able to achieve our target," added Gunadi.

Gunadi added that all car brands under the Indomobil umbrella
would, on average, launch one to two new car models in 2004. Up
to now, Suzuki has been the largest contributor to Indomobil's
total sales, followed by Nissan," commented Gunadi.

PT Auto Euro Indonesia, Indonesia's Renault distributor, also
expected growth in sales. The company is a unit of Indomobil.

"Sales this year will be around 250 units. We expect to
increase sales to 300 in 2004," said Wiwie Kurnia, president of
the Indomobil subsidiary.

Nissan, another member of the group, expects to increase sales
next year by over one thousand vehicles. "Sales at the end of
this year could reach 6,700 units. We expect sales to hit 8,000
to 9,000 next year," commented Teddy Irawan, deputy director of
national sales and promotion with PT Nissan Motor Indonesia.

"From the business point of view, we hope for a slight
escalation in sales, or at least a stable sales trend when the
market has to deal with the general elections next year," added
Teddy. "We will keep relying on our Terrano and X-Trail SUVs
(Sport Utility Vehicles) to reach potential buyers next year.

In the premium class, Indomobil's Audi distributor PT Garuda
Mataram Motor expected sales to rise relative to this year's
commitment of 200 units. "We foresee a sales increase of 15
percent," commented head of public relations Wanny Bhakti.

Audi will be relying on its new A8 model to create a new niche
in next year's market.

These sales figures are parallel to GAIKINDO's (Indonesian
Association of Automobile Manufacturers) prediction. The
association said it hoped sales next year could hit 350,000 from
this year's expected total of 340,000.

"AFTA (ASEAN Free Trade Agreement) gave us the opportunity to
explore the ASEAN market. We will be using our Malaysian plant to
expand operations within Asia," said Patrick Debrot, marketing
and sales vice president with Renault Asia-Pacific.

Renault currently concentrates its effort on the city-car
market, but accounts for only a small portion of Indomobil's
overall sales. Renault models in the country are the Clio, Scenic
and Megane.

"Renault possesses a strong Indonesian market, and is
optimistic that its products fits the needs of automobile
customers in this country," commented Gunadi.