Luxury car dealers enjoy roaring sales
Evi Mariani, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The black car stands elegantly on a circular stage in the automobile expo currently being held at the Jakarta Convention Center. It seems to be chiseled beautifully with cream-colored leather seats inside.
Apart from its elegant looks, to the layman's eyes the car does not look all that special.
But it is a Bentley Arnage T, a luxurious hand-made car from Britain that is worth Rp 4.8 billion (US$578,000) off the road, the same as, say, 40 new taxis in Jakarta.
The car does not have any high-technology features such as a racing engine or computerized system. But, according to the salesman, its body was chiseled by hand and painted 12 times, while the seat leather was cow hide and hand-tailored.
Amid the country's slow economic growth and in the view of the chronic traffic congestion in Jakarta, would anybody eventually buy the Rp 4.8 billion car?
"Oh, I'm optimistic that we can sell at least one Bentley during this exhibition," a Bentley salesman told The Jakarta Post on Monday, the fourth day of the 12th Gaikindo Auto Expo.
He may be right to be optimistic as after only three days of the exhibition, about 20 luxury cars with prices ranging from Rp 350 million to Rp 900 million had found new homes.
"Since Friday, we have already sold 11 Jaguars," said Ardhani Sugiharto, an executive with the British firm.
The favorite types are the Jaguar X-Type 2.0 worth Rp 555 million on the road and the Jaguar S-Type 3.0 worth Rp 850 million on the road. Some of the cars are already available but if a buyer wants a Jaguar with a particular color, he or she will have to wait for two or three months, he said.
Another high-end automaker, Sweden's Volvo, has also sold eight luxury cars during the three days of the exhibition.
"Four of the cars sold are new models, the XC 90 2.9," Dwi Vianasari, Volvo's local head, told the Post, pointing at a big sports utility vehicle (SUV).
The car costs Rp 893 million on the road. However, the buyers will have to wait until November before they can experience the luxury for themselves.
Both Volvo and Jaguar sales staff said that the recent weakening of the U.S. dollar against the rupiah had not affected the prices of the cars.
"There's a lapse of time between the ordering of the car and the arrival date, so we cannot set the price based on the fluctuations of the dollar," said Dwi.
Meanwhile, Germany's Mercedes-Benz shared the same optimistic mood as the other high-end automakers.
"Although we cannot sell cars here in the expo because we have not involved our dealers, since Friday a lot of visitors have shown serious interest in buying our cars," said Amriel Aditya, corporate communications officer at PT DaimlerChrysler Distribution Indonesia.
DaimlerChrysler, a German-American automaker, which produces Mercedes-Benz, Jeep, Chrysler, Dodge and Smart cars, is participating in the expo only to display its technology and some new products like its sports sedan cabriolet, the Mercedes CLK 320 and its two-passenger city car, the Smart.
Earlier on Friday, Bambang Trisulo, chairman of the Indonesian Automotive Industry Association (Gaikindo), said that 340,000 cars would be sold this year in the country, a 7 percent increase over the 317,000 cars sold last year.