PT Astra auto sales up 47% last month

JAKARTA (JP): PT Astra International recorded a 47 percent increase in sales last month, rebounding from a slow February when its sales of automotive vehicles fell 38.1.

The Indonesian Automotive Industry Association reported that Astra's sales plunged from 15,277 units in January to 9,454 units in February but rose back to 15,898 units in March.

Astra sales contributed 52.7 percent to the country's total domestic sales of 28,974 units in January, 51.3 percent of the country's 18,429 units in February and 56.9 percent of the 27,916 units in March.

Indonesian automotive producers sent 1.1 percent of their vehicles to neighboring countries in January, 0.25 percent in February and 1.4 percent in March.

The association said that the decline in February was caused mainly by the Idul Fitri holiday and seasonal flooding in various parts of the country.

Astra is the largest automotive assembler in Indonesia, producing makes from Japan's Toyota, Daihatsu, Isuzu, Nissan and diesel vehicles, France's Peugeot and BMWs from Germany.

Indomobil and other automobile producers assemble Suzuki, Mazda, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Honda and Hino vehicles from Japan, Germany's Mercedes Benz, Volvos from Sweden, Chevrolet, Opel, Ford and Jeep from America, the British Landrover and South Korea's Hyundai and Daewoo.

According to recent press reports, Astra expects a marginal increase in its revenues to Rp 13.5 trillion (US$5.7 billion) in 1996, up from Rp 13 trillion last year, with an after-tax profit expected to decline to Rp 350 billion from Rp 370 billion.

The projected decline in profit is based on projection for Indonesia's total vehicle sales which are expected to drop to 310,000 units in 1996 compared with 379,000 last year.

In addition to automotive assembly, Astra also has interests in agribusiness, heavy equipment and other areas. (kod)