Jakartans willing to endure long wait for their dream car
By John Aglionby
WHEN approaching Jakarta's Soekarno-Hatta Airport by air, one of the few visible sights during the past year, however thick the polluted haze, has been the massed ranks of Timor cars parked beside a runway.
The brouhaha surrounding the National Car, and the reluctance of people to buy it, has had one beneficial side effect for those wanting one.
There is no waiting list.
Providing you have Rp 38 million (US$15,000) in cash, you can more or less go into a showroom and drive one home there and then.
The same cannot be said for all other makes.
At the opposite end of the scale is the new Kijang.
When it was launched at the beginning of this year, customers had to wait up to four months for their vehicle.
That period has dropped, but only marginally, according to Lia Santoso of PT Toyota-Astra Motor. "If you ordered a new Kijang today, you would not get it before the end of October and that is dependent on what extras you wanted," she said.
Toyota's Kijang assembly plant is already working at maximum capacity, 362 vehicles a day, and the waiting list has only been brought down by extending the number of days worked each month.
"It usually runs for 22 days a month but this was recently increased to 25 to meet more of the demand," Lia said.
There are no plans for it to operate every day.
Customers are prepared to make a down payment and wait that long, Lia said, because they are guaranteed a quality product.
"Kijangs are durable and economic and the new model is much more comfortable than the old one. This means people are very enthusiastic about it and are willing to wait."
There are no such problems with the other vehicles in the Toyota stable, the Land Cruiser, Corolla, Starlet and Crown.
If waiting lists are anything to go by, the next most popular car in Indonesia is the Nissan Terrano Grand Road.
Don't hold your breath if you want one because it is unlikely to arrive before the beginning of October.
The head of Nissan's public relations department, Haryadi Ataher, said that its popularity stemmed from the fact that it was cheaper than its two siblings, the Kings Road and the Grand Road XT, but had more accessories.
He said: "People can see that they're getting value for money and as they don't read in the press about Terranos having a bad reputation they trust it and are happy to wait for it."
The Kings Road and Grand Road XT also boast waiting lists, but theirs are only three weeks.
The Kijang and the Terrano Grand Road are by no means the only models buyers here have to wait for. The Volvo 960KL is one of the few luxury cars that is not readily available, but waiting times usually only go beyond a couple of weeks if the model is new or a customer has specific wants.
Rahmawati, a sales executive at Indomobil dealer PT Sun Star Motor on Jl. R.S. Fatmawati, South Jakarta, said: "We always get inundated with orders for the latest model, whatever the make. It seems people just want to be seen in the newest car and be able to show off to their friends."
She added that the Mitsubishi Lancer was a case in point. "We are telling our customers they will have to wait up to three months for one but they don't appear to mind."
Other cars still enjoying post-launch sales booms are the Audi A4 and the Nissan Infiniti.
Fussy customers are the other people who have to wait, especially when wanting a certain color.
An employee at Mercedes dealer PT Hartono Raya Motor said finding a particular model was not a problem -- even the new C230 Kompressor would only take a week -- but supplying some colors was.
"I can get you a blue, green, silver or gold car without difficulty, but if you want a white, black or red one, you'll have to wait up to three months," she said.
BMW has similar problems. One dealer said: "Customers don't have to wait for their cars unless they want a silver one. Then it will take about a month."
So, unless you are prepared to buy a Timor car, a secondhand vehicle, or are not at all concerned about the image of your car don't expect instant delivery.
It might happen, if you're lucky, but be prepared to be flexible and work on extremely elastic rubber time to avoid disappointment.