The automotive sector in Indonesia has seen a good

The automotive sector in Indonesia has seen a good
sign with favorable total sales in the first five
months this year, while various carmakers keep
introducing new sedans to the audience.

Based on the data from the Indonesian Automotive
Association (Gaikindo), over 140,000 cars were sold in
the first five month this year, up by 8 percent
compared from the corresponding period last year. Out
of the total 140,769 cars sold in the January-May
period this year, 13,000 units were sedans.

On the contrary of the increase of total car sales
since 2000, the growth rate of sedan's sales has
decreased gradually in recent years. Data from
Gaikindo show total car sales reached 300,964 in 2000
and 299,558 in 2001 and 317,747 last year. Sales of
sedan, however, reached only 46,891 in 2000, 35,226 in
2001 and 26,684 in 2002.

According to the data, the market share of sedan has
also plunged from 20.6 percent in 2000 to 17.6 percent
in 2001 and to only 13.2 percent in 2002.

However, carmakers always introduce and launch new
series or brands of sedans in Indonesia, as they
believe the national market for new sedan remains
prospective.

Even the less popular carmakers, in term of market
share, always launch their new series of sedans.

Wenda Wonoseputro, president of PT Car and Car
Indonesia, the authorize distributor of Volkswagen in
Indonesia, admitted that Volkswagen or VW is one of
the names holding limited market share in Indonesia,
but there were still people eager to own VW cars such
as Polo, Passat and Beetle.

"VW's market share is very low in Indonesia as the
cars are imported based on the CBU (completely built
up), while other cars are incompletely knocked down in
Indonesia," she said, adding that VW was about to
launch the new Beetle Cabriolet later this month.

She said her company had sold 80 units in the first
half this year, mostly Golf and Polo sedans.

Gaikindo classifies sedan into three segments
according to engine capacity: lower segment (up to
1,800cc), medium/middle segment (1,800cc-3000cc), and
upper segment (over 3,000cc). The lower category is
also known as the mini and small car types, while the
medium include the low and high sedans, while the
luxury, premium sedan are usually in the upper
category.

Eventually, the sedan category in Indonesia is under
control of Toyota, Suzuki and Honda, which dominated
about 75 percent share altogether. Other brands
getting more popular in this class including KIA and
Hyundai.

Major players in the middle class include BMW 3
Series, Honda Civic, Mercedes Benz C class and Toyota
Altis and Camry. The others comprise of Ford, Peugeot,
and the A3 of Audi, Golf of VW, Lancer of Mitsubishi
and Sentra of Nissan.

In this class, there is, among others, Mitsubishi's
new Lancer 1.8 SEi CVT which presents a new charm, a
beautiful and elegant outside look, full of style and
luxurious interior and best performance. The car comes
with two types, SEi Limited CVT (1800cc) and GLXi
(1600cc).

Meanwhile, the players in the upper sector mainly
includes BMW 5 Series and 7 and Mercedes Benz E and S
classes, Volvo S60 and S80, Audi A6, Toyota Crown,
Honda Accord, Nissan Infinity and Cefiro, Jaguar S and
X, VW Passat and Saab 9-5.

The S60 2.3 Turbo is just an example that Volvos have
offered, as usual, something valuable with a host of
enhancements across the range adding more features,
luxury and value for money.

In addition to the S60, the S80 is already in showrooms. The
latter is the top level Volvo sedan on
the market today. It is a full-size luxury sedan, it
has all the performance, luxury and safety equipment
that Volvo can test and install. Volvo has put in all
its most innovative and advanced performance and
handling equipment but the cost is quite reasonable
when compared against competitors with the same
specifications and interior content.

Both of middle and upper classes hold small market
shares. But the demand for mini and small cars in the
lower category is expected to remain stable in the
upcoming years. Corresponding with the purchasing
power of most people in the country, the mini and
small cars are popular. Therefore, every carmaker is
competing to introduce new types and brands regularly.

Earlier this year, in about the same span, three major
carmakers, Toyota, Honda and Suzuki launched their new
brands of minicar. The cars include Toyota Vios, All
New Honda City and Suzuki Baleno Next-G. Other players
in this section include Hyundai Verna.

Set to lead the market, Vios comes in two variants,
manual and automatic. It is powered by the INZ-FE
4-cylinder, in-line, DOHC, VVT-i, 16-valve engine,
which is able to produce maximum power of 109
horsepower at 6,000 revs per minute and maximum torque
of 142 Newton-meters at 4,200 rpm.

Yet, the new Baleno and City have also their own
particularities, therefore rivalry is very stiff among
the three. In addition, the prices of such cars are
set under Rp 170 million, an attractive price due to
the sophisticated features they offer.

Competition in this segment is pretty tough as the
market share of small and minicars is relatively a bit
higher compared to the other segments in the sedan
category. Last year, out of 26,684 sold sedans, 14,317
were minicars. In 2001, out of 35,226 sold sedan, more
than 26,000 were minicars.