New vehicle sales rise 8.1% by March

New vehicle sales rise 8.1% by March

JAKARTA: New vehicle sales in Indonesia rose 8.1 percent on month
to 29,297 units in March, the car assemblers' association
Gaikindo said on Thursday.

Of the total, commercial vehicles accounted for 26,676 units
in March, up 6.1 percent from 25,133 in February, Gaikindo said.

Passenger car sales - a barometer of consumer confidence -
also rose, to 2,621 units from 1,978 units in February.

Sales at Indonesia's largest vehicle maker PT Astra
International - which has a joint venture with Toyota Motor Corp.
to assemble and distribute the Japanese company's vehicles in
Indonesia - increased 3.7 percent to 11,931 units from 11,507
units in February, Gaikindo said.

In the first three months of this year, Astra sold 34,563
cars, or around 42 percent of total national car sales, Gaikindo
said. -- Dow Jones