Nissan planning a major expansion in Indonesia

By Russell Williamson

NISSAN is planning a major expansion of its operations in Indonesia in an effort to become one of the top six carmakers in the country.

By July, the Japanese manufacturer and its local partner, Indomobil, aim to have established five regional service centers around the country and added nine sales outlets.

This would bring the total number of Nissan dealers to 27.

The chief executive officer of local Nissan distributor PT Wahana Wirawan, Christian Iskandar, said the company would also double its production this year.

Christian said this would enable the company to reach its sales target for the year of 6,000 vehicles -- up from 3,000 last year.

Nissan currently sells just three models here, the small 1600cc Sentra, the jeep-type two-wheel drive Terrano and the upmarket people mover Serena.

However, Christian said in order to reach its target, Nissan would be introducing a number of new models this year.

The first of these will be the Infiniti I-30 which is expected to arrive about mid-year.

The front-wheel drive 3000cc V6 powered luxury sedan is expected to be priced about Rp 150 million.

The Infiniti will be offered in Indonesia with a very high level of equipment befitting its status as the company's flagship.

Leather trim, power adjustable driver and passenger seats, power windows and mirrors, climate control air-conditioning, remote central locking, cruise control, tilt adjustable steering column and a six speaker audio system with CD player are all likely to be standard equipment.

On the safety front, the car comes fitted with both driver and passenger air bags, antilock brakes and side impact protection.

The all alloy engine is a DOHC 24 valve V6 unit which delivers a maximum power of 140kW at 5600rpm driving through a four speed electronic automatic transmission.

The suspension is tuned for ride comfort more than sporting prowess and features independent MacPherson struts on the front and a multilink setup on the rear.

Rack and pinion speed sensitive power steering is standard as is antilock brakes on four wheel discs.

Also on the cards could be the replacement for the small Sentra, however Christian said there had been no decision made yet.

"We are planning but not yet finalized whether we can introduce it within this year or next year," he said.

Christian said the major impediment for introducing the new Sentra would be price as the car is in an ever increasingly competitive market.

"We are concentrating more on the Serena and Terrano because the passenger car market is still small and especially in the smaller end is very crowded.

"If we have the right model at the right price then we will start selling the new Sentra," Christian said.

He said the right price would be about Rp 65 million but this was probably only achievable if Nissan could get more than 20 percent local content in the car.

"If we cannot achieve the 20 percent local content it will be useless to introduce it because the import duty is 60 percent compared to about 45 percent," he said.

Without the reduction in import duty, Christian said the car would cost about Rp 80 million which would make it too expensive and uncompetitive.

If Nissan does decide to bring in the new Sentra, buyers will be greeted with a car which features a smoother more rounded body which is slightly longer and offers larger interior space.

Power for the 16-valve DOHC four cylinder 1600cc engine has also been increased slightly from 88kW to 90kW.

Nissan also plans to introduce some other models this year to help it achieve its volume target, however, Christian would not be drawn on what they were.