Pressure on the Rupiah for the Automotive Industry: Astra Highlights Rising Production Costs

JAKARTA - The recent weakening of the rupiah exchange rate, which has breached the Rp17,000 per US dollar mark, is also putting pressure on the national automotive industry. Rising production costs are a consequence faced by industry players, as there is still dependence on imported materials and components. Astra’s President Director, Rudy, stated that pressure on production costs cannot be avoided when the rupiah weakens against foreign currencies. “The weakening of the rupiah will certainly impact our production on-costs,” Rudy said during Astra’s 2026 Annual General Meeting of Shareholders (AGMS), on Thursday (23/4/2026). According to him, although the domestic automotive industry has developed local content levels, certain components and materials are still affected by exchange rate fluctuations. This makes production costs more sensitive to currency movements. Several components, such as semiconductors, electronic systems, and special materials, generally still rely on imports, making the automotive industry’s production costs sensitive to exchange rate movements. Nevertheless, Rudy assessed that Astra still has the resilience to face this pressure. This is supported by an integrated business ecosystem, from distribution and after-sales services to financing, which is considered capable of maintaining performance balance amid external pressures. “Fortunately, we have a fairly complete ecosystem, distribution, retail, and so on, so our resilience is higher because we can balance one with the other,” said Rudy. Amid these dynamics, industry players are required to be more adaptive in managing costs and maintaining operational efficiency.