Prabowo Surprised to See "Tidar" and "Lokon" in Electric Vehicle Series: Good Intelligence

JAKARTA - President Prabowo Subianto made a joke to Anindya Bakrie, Chairman of the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin) and Main Commissioner of PT VKTR Teknologi Mobilitas Tbk, during the inauguration of the PT VKTR Sakti Industries electric bus and truck factory in Magelang, Central Java, on Thursday (9/4/2026). He shared the joke upon seeing several VKTR electric vehicle series named after places closely tied to his life. Two of them are Tidar and Lokon. Tidar refers to the hill in Magelang that borders SMA Taruna Nusantara directly. Prabowo is known as one of the key figures who initiated and established the school in 1988 while still active in the military. “You chose the mountain series name: Tidar. Coincidentally, when I was young, I was raised in the Tidar Valley. I have many memories in Tidar, many memories in Magelang,” Prabowo said on Thursday. Minahasa is the place where Prabowo’s biological mother, Dora Marie Sigar, grew up. Prabowo then considered Anindya Bakrie to have good intelligence for selecting a name closely associated with him, even though there were many mountain names to choose from. “Moreover, Brother chose another name for the second series: Lokon. My mother is from Minahasa, so Mount Lokon is very famous in Minahasa. This intelligence of Mr Anin is very good. He could choose Mount Kerinci, he could choose the Semeru series (but) he chose Tidar and Lokon. This must be supported,” Prabowo joked. Prabowo wants the company to eventually produce a “national champion”, like the automotive industries in advanced countries. “I hope VKTR will become one of our national champions. If Japan has Isuzu, has Hino, if Korea has Hyundai, Daewoo, I hope in a few years we will regard and see VKTR as one of Indonesia’s champions,” Prabowo said.