State officials to get Camrys
Rendi A. Witular and Primastuti Handayani, The Jakarta Post/Jakarta
The Indonesian government has opted to use Toyota Camrys as the official car for all state officials, with Volvo S80s being used to transport heads of state for next week's Asian-African Summit.
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said on Friday that all government officials, up to provincial level, should use Toyota Camry sedans as their operational cars, and use the car's price as a ceiling for all official cars.
With a special discount, the President said, each Camry, which carries 3,000cc engine under its bonnet, was priced at below Rp 400 million (US$42,000), lower than the market price of around Rp 450 million.
Earlier this month, State Secretary Yusril Ihza Mahendra said that the sedans were bought for around Rp 350 million each from a car showroom in Jakarta.
"From now on, I don't want to hear any (state) officials purchasing operational cars priced at some Rp 900 million. All official cars' should be priced below Rp 400 million. This is for efficiency," Susilo said during a ceremony at the National Resilience Institute (Lemhannas).
The call for efficiency and modest lifestyles among state officials was started by chairman of the People's Consultative Assembly Hidayat Nur Wahid, who immediately declared after being named as chairman last October that he would not be using a Volvo as his official car, as he considered such cars too luxurious.
Susilo said ministers and heads of state institutions would use the 3,000cc Camry sedans, while echelon I level officials would use the 2,000cc model.
"I tried the 2,000cc Camry just a few days ago. It's a nice car and it's suitable for ministers. I don't think we should use Volvo sedans anymore because they are perceived by the public as luxury cars," he said.
The government has already ordered 60 Camry sedans for high- ranking foreign delegations attending the upcoming Asian-African Summit. After the three-day Summit, the sedans will become official cars for high-ranking government officials.
However, the government will still provide 60 Volvo S80 2.3T cars to serve heads of state. The cars, which have a price tag of around Rp 600 million each, were being loaned by PT Indomobil Sukses International Tbk to Summit organizers.
"Due to the government's limited budget, the loan of the cars is a great help to us," Rildo Ananda Anwar, deputy state secretary on administration, said in a press conference on Friday.
Indomobil President Director Gunadi Sindhuwinata said that his company has put mechanics on standby and provided training for members of the Presidential Guard who will drive the cars.
Besides the Volvos, Indomobil has also loaned Summit organizers 80 Nissan X-Trail 2.5St for protocol, 120 Nissan Terrano Spirit S2 for security and eight Hino buses.