Local auto sales dropped 83% in 1998: Association

JAKARTA (JP): Domestic automobile sales in 1998 nosedived 83 percent, according to the latest report from the Association of Indonesian Automotive Industries.

The 68,413 vehicles consisted of 46,398 commercial vehicles and 11,613 passenger vehicles. Sales for 1997 were 392,203.

December ranked the worst sales month of 1998 with 1,813 units moving from showrooms, down from 2,394 in November.

Nevertheless, December passenger car sales rose to 392 vehicles from 325 in November. Commercial car sales fell to 1,421 units from 2,069 in November.

The best sales month was January, with 14,339 vehicles sold.

The country's largest automaker, PT Astra International, topped the sales list, selling 31,579 vehicles last year, 45 percent of total sales. The amount was broken down into 29,187 commercial vehicles and 2,392 passenger cars.

Astra sells Toyota, Daihatsu and Isuzu makes from Japan, Germany's BMW and France's Peugeot.

Toyota topped the slot of commercial vehicles sales, selling 15,452 commercial vehicles last year, a drop from 90,701 in 1997.

Isuzu was next with 8,966 vehicles, plummeting from 50,353 in the previous year. Mitsubishi sold 8,205 vehicles, down from 67,463 in 1997.

In the passenger slot, Timor, the controversial "national car", was first, selling 2,473 vehicles in 1998.

Second was Suzuki with 1,408 cars and Ford with 1,242 cars.

The Timor sedans were imported from South Korea's Kia Motors by PT Timor Putra Nasional, controlled by former president Soeharto's youngest son Hutomo Mandala Putra, under the now defunct national car program.

There were few buyers for luxury vehicles.

In January, only two Mercedes-Benz vehicles were sold, but the number picked up to 63 in February. The number accounted for a chunk of the total of 444 last year.

Opel sold 61 units during the year.

Motorcycle sales fell to 430,948 last year from over 1.8 million in 1997.

However, they increased to 20,337 in December from 18,105 in November. November's figure was the lowest for the year.

Local automobile firms also exported 9,106 commercial vehicles and 1,296 passenger cars.

Astra exported 8,772 Toyota and 344 Daihatsu vehicles, while PT Indomobil Sukses Internasional of the Salim Group exported 1,296 Suzuki vehicles last year.

Astra and Indomobil have suspended production due to the slump in domestic demand.

The country is languishing in its worst economic crisis in three decades, with the rupiah losing more than 65 percent of its value against the U.S. dollar from its value in July 1997. (gis)