Prabowo Calls for Acceleration of Electric Vehicles, Toyota's Response
JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com - Toyota Indonesia has responded to the government’s desire to accelerate the adoption of battery electric vehicles (BEVs), as expressed by President Prabowo Subianto during a discussion with senior journalists some time ago.
President Director of PT Toyota Motor Manufacturing Indonesia (TMMIN), Nandi Julyanto, emphasised that Toyota remains committed to supporting the direction of government policies while continuing to develop vehicle technologies through various approaches.
“We always support government policies for industrial development. Toyota in Indonesia has been contributing for 55 years, including to the development of the industry, supply chains, and R&D,” Nandi told Kompas.com on Friday (20/3/2026).
“Toyota Indonesia continues to conduct research and development on multi-pathway vehicles, such as biofuels, as well as electrification components including batteries, in line with Indonesia’s government policies,” he said.
In addition, for both conventional and electrified vehicles, Indonesia has become an important global production base for Toyota.
“Toyota Indonesia has been trusted as a hub for exports to more than 80 countries,” Nandi stated.
Nevertheless, he stressed that the direction of vehicle development still considers market dynamics, both domestic and export.
“Of course, vehicle development is greatly influenced by market and customer acceptance,” he said.
“While studying the market both domestically and for exports, Toyota will continue to develop vehicles and mobility, including electrified vehicles based on renewable energy sources,” Nandi added.
Toyota’s statement comes amid the government’s push to accelerate the national automotive industry’s transformation, particularly towards battery electric vehicles, to reduce dependence on fossil fuels.
President Prabowo previously emphasised that Indonesia needs to make a leap in industrialisation, including in the automotive sector, by utilising its wealth of natural resources.
“We must process raw materials into high-value industrial products. We have everything: bauxite, alumina, and so on. We have all the natural resources to make cars. But we are lagging behind other countries that don’t have them,” Prabowo said.
In the context of vehicles, he even openly remarked that Japanese manufacturers have so far appeared more cautious in developing battery electric vehicles.
“Toyota is still not wanting to go towards electric,” Prabowo said.
“I want total electric. And the electricity from the sun,” he added.
According to Prabowo, developing an ecosystem for electric vehicles based on renewable energy can reduce dependence on fuel imports while opening up new industrial opportunities domestically.