Indomobil's plant fit for Timor cars

JAKARTA (JP) The national carmaker PT Timor Putra Nasional's plan to assemble cars at Indomobil's plant in Tambun, West Java, is likely to proceed smoothly, several automotive executives said yesterday.

Herman Z. Latief, vice president of PT Krama Yudha Tiga Berlian, said this would not pose technical problems because Indomobil's plant did not need major alterations to assemble the so-called national cars.

"There will be no problem," said Herman who is also chairman of the Indonesian car manufacturer's association.

He cited an example of when his company, Mitsubishi's sole distributor, assembled gallant Suzuki cars in the early 1980s.

PT Toyota Astra Motor's technical director, Adirizal Nisar, shared this view saying that it would be fine for PT Timor to assemble its cars at Indomobil's plant, which is mainly used to assemble Suzuki vans and sedans.

"In principle, it's okay, PT Timor only needs to install Jig facilities then the Timor cars could be assembled in Indomobil's plant," he said.

Basically, he said, the car had a standard measure: "With such a standardized measure, it is possible for PT TPN (Timor Putra) to assemble its cars at another company's plant," he said yesterday on the sidelines of an exhibition for Toyota Astra Motor's new model of Kijang.

Timor Putra, owned by President Soeharto's youngest son Hutomo Mandala Putra, has signed an agreement with PT Indomobil, the country's second largest car assembler, to assemble Timor sedans at Indomobil's plant in Tambun.

Timor Putra is allowed to start assembling its cars there from April this year.

Timor Putra's finance director, Sudjaswin E.L, said earlier that his company's plant in Surabaya, East Java, which is still under construction, would assemble sporty Timor jeeps from next year.

He said his company would start building a plant in Cikampek, West Java, this month to manufacture Timor cars.

The government granted pioneer status to Timor Putra in February to produce a national car with Kia Motors of South Korea. This is an exclusive arrangement which will give Timor Putra a series of tax breaks, including exemptions from import duties and luxury taxes.

The company is allowed to import its cars from Kia until its own factory starts production i 1998. (09)