News of Chery Acquiring Handal's Factory: Handal's Boss Responds
Wuhu - The issue of Chery Group acquiring the factory of PT Handal Indonesia Motor (HIM) has resurfaced amid increasing production activities and model expansions in Indonesia.
However, HIM’s Vice President Commissioner, Jongkie D. Sugiarto, assured that the news is untrue. He emphasised that, to date, there have been no discussions regarding plans to take over the production facility.
The statement was made when he was met on the sidelines of the Chery International Business Summit 2026 in Wuhu, China, on Saturday (25/6/2026).
“No, there are no such discussions (on factory acquisition),” he stressed when confirmed about the acquisition of the production facility.
According to Jongkie, the meeting agenda is more directed towards production readiness, following the trend of increasing Chery assembly volumes domestically. This growth is driven by the addition of model lines and prices deemed competitive in the market.
“Chery’s production is already high and keeps rising. As the assembler, we must be prepared. It can’t be sudden; there are many preparations,” said Jongkie.
He emphasised that HIM only plays the role of an assembly company (assembler), while all product policies and expansions are in the hands of the principal.
“That’s their business; I don’t interfere. I just assemble. For new models to be assembled locally, let them speak about it,” he stated.
Besides Chery, several brands in its group, such as Jaecoo and Jetour, also utilise the same facilities, along with some other brands.
Since 2020, HIM has indeed been a manufacturing partner for various automotive brands, mostly from China. In fact, besides meeting domestic market needs, this facility also has a track record of exports to several countries since 2010.
In line with the increasing demand for local assembly, HIM is beginning to prepare for production capacity expansion. One of them is the construction of a new facility in Purwakarta, West Java.
“Over time, other brands also want to assemble locally, so we must add facilities. That’s part of the preparation,” said Jongkie.
Thus, the acquisition issue is seen more as speculation, while the main focus now is strengthening production capacity to match the growth of the national automotive industry.