Kijang Innova makes export debut to Thailand, Brunei
Zakki P. Hakim, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Less than three months after the Kijang Innova minivan was launched domestically, PT Toyota Motor Manufacturing Indonesia (TMMIN) has sent the first batch of exports to Thailand and Brunei.
TMMIN president director Sachio Yamazaki said on Friday some 7,000 completely built up (CBU) units of the multipurpose vehicle would be shipped to Thailand and another 600 CBU units to Brunei.
TMMIN is the manufacturing unit of the country's largest automotive group, PT Astra International.
"We are committed to contributing to the economic development of Indonesia. It is as part of that commitment that we start today to export the Kijang Innova," he said during a ceremony to mark the first exports.
He said the company planned to export 10,000 CBU units of the Innova annually to Southeast Asia, Oceania and the Middle East.
The company intends to manufacture 80,000 Innovas each year, he said. In addition, the company will also export some 130,000 units of fuel engines every year starting in 2005 to Southeast Asian and South American countries, as well as to India and South Africa.
Thai consumers will be able to choose from gasoline or diesel engine Innovas, both with automatic transmission. Both types of engines meet Euro3 emission standard requirements.
The diesel engine Innovas exported to Brunei will come in three varieties: two manual transmission versions and one automatic transmission.
Akira Okabe, the managing director of Toyota Motor Corporation, said the Kijang Innova was very important to Toyota as it was the first model the Japanese automaker had manufactured entirely and exclusively outside of Japan.
"Today is a historic event ... a new chapter in the history of Toyota and of the world automobile industry," he said.
He said Toyota's confidence in Indonesia had led Japan's largest automaker to select the country as its global production base for minivans.
Innova is the new generation of the Toyota Kijang minivan, which for years has been the top selling car in Indonesia.
The Kijang was an immediate success when it was first introduced here in 1977.
The Kijang was the first four-wheeled vehicle in the country to reach the one million production mark. That mark was achieved in October last year.
Toyota had invested some US$360 million to develop the Innova in Indonesia, providing 4,500 new jobs.
The new Kijang Innova sold about 3,000 units in September and about 7,000 in October.
Minister of Industry Andung A. Nitimihardja, who attended the ceremony on Friday, said he hoped Toyota would continue to assist the country's small and medium enterprises in developing automotive components, and increase the number of local suppliers for Toyota.
Innova is manufactured with 74 percent local content, proving that Indonesian-made components have the quality to compete in the global market, the minister said.
"In the future, we are looking forward to seeing Toyota bring other companies in the Toyota group to invest in the country, especially the makers of components that Indonesia is still unable to manufacture," he said.