Lamborghini expected to develop Megatech cars
Lamborghini expected to develop Megatech cars
SURABAYA, East Java (JP): Millionaire Setiawan Djody said here
yesterday his reason for acquiring the well-known Italian
super car manufacturer, Automobili Lamborghini S.p.a., is to
transfer automotive technology to Indonesia.
"I'm not only a profit-oriented businessman but also a people-
oriented entrepreneur," Djody told reporters during a press
conference.
Djody, who is well known for his diverse interests, including
in music, was showing off two of his Diablo super cars. The
Diablo is Lamborghini's flagship model with a maximum speed of
325 kilometers per hour.
Business analysts earlier labeled the purchase of the Italian
car maker early this year from the U.S.-based Chrysler
Corporation "mysterious" on the grounds that both sides refused
to talk about the amount involved.
The Hong Kong-based Asia Inc. monthly magazine reported in
July that there were a number of hidden reasons behind what it
called the US$50 million deal. Figures named by other sources
valued the deal at from $40 million to $100 million.
The 45-year-old Djody declined to comment about the amount
yesterday, saying that he will only reveal the number if Megatech
Ltd., the major shareholder of Lamborghini, offers its shares to
the public.
He said that he wants to exploit the know-how of Lamborghini
and to develop another automobile firm in Indonesia under the
brand name of Megatech.
He added that the Italian car manufacturer is currently 20
percent owned by the Kuala Lumpur-based Mycom Bhd. and 80 percent
by the Bermuda-based Megatech Ltd., which is controlled 50/50 by
Hutomo Mandala Putra, the youngest son of President Soeharto, and
himself.
Engines
The Italian company, founded by farm-machinery industrialist
Ferrucio Lamborghini in 1963, is based in Sant' Agata, a small
town near Bologna, Italy.
Lamborghini, which is famous because of its exclusive super-
car production, was sold for $25 million to Chrysler in 1987
following a long recession in Europe.
Djody hinted in yesterday's press conference that the deal was
worth more than $125 million on the grounds that Chrysler had
invested more than $100 million in research for the development
of two new types of Lamborghini.
He told reporters that while the Sant' Agata-based Lamborghini
continues to produce exclusive super cars, the Indonesia-based
Megatech will developed middle-class cars, adding that Megatech
is now making feasibility studies on building its own factory in
the country.
"The first priority is Surabaya. But if we cannot get a plot,
we will construct the plant in Bekasi, West Java," he said,
adding that Megatech will invest between $300 million and $400
million in the automotive industry.
"The products will be purely Indonesian products because
Lamborghini belongs to Indonesian people," he said, while showing
visiting journalists the newly designed World Modular Engine
(WME) and the Tigre Modular Car.
Lamborghini's engineers developed the prototype engines and
put the name "Megatech," instead of Lamborghini, on top of them.
Megatech aims to use the engines, designed with between 0.9-
liter and 2-liter displacements, for small sedans or trucks for
the growing middle classes in Indonesia, China and India.
The flamboyant Djody, who once recorded a rock music album,
Kantata Takwa, with a number of well-known musicians, including
Iwan Fals, said that he believes the buying power of middle class
people in those countries is strong enough to purchase the
products of Megatech.
His wife, Etty, 44, and eldest daughter, Natali, 24, who has
just graduated from college and started to help the family's
business, also attended yesterday's exhibition.
Djody is the chairman of the Jakarta-based Setdco business
group, whose interests range from the shipping, mining, property
and automobile industries to the music sector. (09)