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.