XINHUA/Japanese carmakers keen to produce eco-friendly cars in Indonesia
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JAKARTA, March 26 (Xinhua) -- Indonesian Industry Minister M.S. Hidayat said that four Japan major automobile producers have expressed keen interest to join the government's program to produce eco-friendly and low-cost cars, local media reported here Friday.
The minister was quoted by the Jakarta Post as saying that representatives of Daihatsu, Toyota, Suzuki and Nissan had all expressed the interest.
The minister said on Thursday that executives of Daihatsu, Toyota and Suzuki had met him earlier to discuss the programs and they expected to begin production by 2011.
"They are very serious. They have all submitted business plans, " he said, adding that Daihatsu had shown the government its prototype.
Hidayat said the low-cost green car program is open to all car producers but interested parties would be selected on basis of government criteria, especially on the proposed local content for car production.
The government is now drafting a regulation on the program, which is expected to be issued by the end of this year.
According to Hidayat, the market for low-cost green cars, which would carry a price tag of between 70 million rupiah (7,630 U.S. dollars) and 80 million rupiah (some 8,760 U.S. dollars), would be quite promising given the surge in per capita income.
Hidayat said that his eventual aim would be that the local content of the car would be between 60 percent and 80 percent of its total composition.
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