Strong rupiah fails to boost car sales

JAKARTA (JP): Sales of four-wheeled vehicles fell in November to 2,470 units from 3,634 the month before, despite the strengthening of the rupiah against the U.S. dollar, according to the latest report issued by the Association of Indonesian Automotive Industries (Gaikindo).

The November sales of passenger cars dropped to 341 units from 366 in October while those of commercial cars fell to 2,129 units from 3,268 in October.

Analysts said the sales remained low because many potential buyers were delaying their purchases in the hope of a cut in prices.

"Many potential buyers believe that the strengthening of the rupiah will result in lower car prices," one analyst said.

The rupiah has appreciated significantly to about Rp 7,500 against the U.S. dollar during the past two months from Rp 11,000 in September.

This year's monthly car sales peaked at 14,339 units in January before falling to a low of 2,051 units in June.

Total sales of four-wheeled cars were 56,274 during the January-November period this year, a fraction of the nearly 400,000 units in 1997.

The breakdown was 45,037 commercial vehicles and 11,237 passenger vehicles.

The country's largest automaker, PT Astra International, sold 30,555 vehicles in the first 11 months of the year, or 54 percent of the total sales. It sold 28,297 commercial cars and 2,258 passenger cars during the period.

Cars makes sold by Astra include Toyota, Daihatsu and Isuzu from Japan, Germany's BMW and France's Peugeot.

Toyota sold 15,118 commercial vehicles between January and November, the biggest proportion of any of the producers. It was followed by Isuzu with 8,432 vehicles and Mitsubishi with 7,933 vehicles.

Astra and the country's other largest vehiclemaker, PT Indomobil Sukses Makmur, have halted production due to the slump in domestic demand.

However, the data shows that the Timor "national car" is ranked first in the sales of passenger cars, due its low price compared to other sedans. The company sold 2,449 cars in the first 11 months of 1998.

It was followed by Suzuki with 1,398 vehicles and Ford with 1,241 cars.

The Timor sedans were imported from South Korea's Kia Motors by PT Timor Putra Nasional, controlled by former president Soeharto's youngest son, Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala Putra, under a controversial national car program.

Only a few luxury cars were sold in the first eleven months of this year.

In January only two Mercedes-Benz cars were sold, but the number picked up to 63 in February and reached a total of 405 units during the January-November period.

The statistics also said motorcycle sales fell to 410,611 for the January-November period of this year from over 900,000 in the same period last year.

Motorcycle sales plunged to 18,105 in November from 32,255 in October. The November figure is the lowest during the first eleven months of 1998.

Indonesia is suffering its worst ever economic crisis, with the rupiah losing more than 70 percent of its value against the U.S. dollar from its value in July last year. (gis)