Jianshe expects to gain 10% in market

JAKARTA (JP): Chinese motorcycle producer PT PAN Jianshe Milinia Indonesia (PJMI) expects to gain a local market share of about 10 percent this year.

PJMI president Henry Sung said that the Indonesian motorcycle market, which was predicted at about 1.2 million units this year, was still wide open for Chinese-make motorcycles.

"Even though the economy hasn't fully recovered ... we see a wide opportunity for Chinese two-wheeled vehicles," he said in a statement.

PJMI is a joint-venture company between Chinese state-owned company Jianshe Motor Ltd. and Indonesia's PT Multi Harapan Sukses Sejahtera (MHSS), which is also the sole distributor of the motorcycles here.

Sung said that demand for Chinese motorcycles in Indonesian was constantly increasing, and the demand for Jianshe motorcycles had increased by 35 percent over the last three months.

To fully support local demand for Jianshe motorcycles, PJMI established an assembly plant early this year in Tangerang, West Java.

The factory, which started commercial production in January, has a production capacity of 120,000 motorcycles a year, MHSS president Michael Gan said.

He said that the production capacity would be gradually increased in line with the development of the industry and the demand for the product here.

"Our parent company is ready to serve the Indonesian market seriously and is ready to ask other companies in the group to invest in Indonesia," Gan said.

PJMI general manager of operations R. Suyarto said the establishment of Jianshe's assembly plant here would guarantee the future of its products in Indonesia.

"Unlike other Chinese motorcycle products that do not have a base in Indonesia, we would not be easily dismissed," he said.

Sung added that although there were currently many brands of Chinese motorcycles, only those with a permanent base in would be able to survive.

"The brands that survive will be those that are supported by professional management, high quality products, a comprehensive service facility and have full support from their principal company," he said.

The Tangerang facility assembles Jianshe's nine motorcycle types, mainly the cub model, sports and scooters, Suyarto said, adding that the cub model comprises about 70 percent of production because of its popularity in the country.

Jianshe motorcycles are one of the 57 brands of Chinese motorcycles imports flooding the Indonesian market over the past two years.

The cheaper imports have threatened the domination of Japanese-make motorcycles in the country by quickly acquiring more than 30 percent of the market.

However, Japanese motorcycle producers claim that many of the Chinese motorcycles violated patent rights.

Major motorcycle producer Honda recently said that it had found evidence of patent infringements on seven Chinese brands being distributed in Indonesia.

Honda demanded the seven importers remove the patented part from their motorcycles and stop further imports.

Suyarto said that Jianshe motorcycles were free from patent infringements, as the company in China worked in collaboration with Japan's Yamaha.

"Yamaha has a share in Jianshe Motor, and together they have invented many creations according to market demand," he added. (tnt)