Peugeot offers refreshed 306 to Indonesian market

By John Aglionby

IT is summer in France and people are on holiday, hoping to return home looking fresher, relaxed and ready to take on the perils and pitfalls of the rest of the year.

Peugeot, one of France's leading car manufacturers, is no exception. A few months ago, it gave its 306 a facelift and the new-look car went on sale in Indonesia for the first time this week.

The result of the makeover is a much more family looking vehicle; it now looks much more like its larger sibling the 406. This is no coincidence, said Bintoro Tjitrowirjo, a spokesman for Astra Internasional, the distributor here.

"The new design was motivated by the feeling that Peugeot feels the 406 has been very well accepted and giving the 306 more of a 406 feel will keep it fresh," he said.

Practically everything from the A-pillar to the front is totally new, including the hood, the lamps, the grille and the bumper. At the rear, two of the most noticeable changes are the lights and a new logo on the trunk.

While the Indonesian versions of the car get all the cosmetic changes, unfortunately, they miss out on the new 16-valve engines which are offered in other markets and retain the same 1.8-liter eight-valve engine.

Less than 10 percent, little more than the tires and the battery, is made locally and that is unlikely to change in the near future.

Despite the family appeal in Europe, Astra is aiming the car at 25 to 40-year-olds, primarily male, executives. "We see that there is a trend emerging among younger Indonesians," Bintoro said. "They are leaning toward European cars.

"People are more quality conscious, and if they have enough money they are choosing to go European, as cars from there are seen as being of a higher quality."

His assumptions are borne out by the statistics. In 1994, 10 percent of all cars sold in Indonesia were European. This year, the figure is expected to be more than double that.

The main competition is, therefore, from the Japanese, and in particularly the Toyota Corolla and the Honda Civic.

The price is Rp 69 million (US$24,200) on the road, including taxes, for the manual version and Rp 4 million more for the automatic version. The company expects to sell 2,000 a year, a fairly conservative estimate considering 1,300 Peugeot 306s were sold in the last six months. Only 20 percent of the sales are expected to be automatics.

Bintoro said: "Even with the current economic climate of the falling rupiah, it is still a very attractive offer, particularly for potential buyers outside Jakarta."

After-sales service, for an extra Rp 800,000, includes a one- year guarantee "during which time we will take complete care of your car," Bintoro said. "If anything goes wrong you will be able to take it to any of our 17 branches across the country and get it fixed for free."