Timor car owners distressed by uncertainty

By I. Christianto

JAKARTA (JP): Edna drives her red sedan car every day, the same way, to her office in a high-rise building in the city. Even though she is alone in the car, she is happy and confident that her car will never give her trouble. Lately, however, she worries a little. Not because of the engine. It is the brand that bothers her. The car is a Timor car.

That is why she rarely drives it after office hours.

Edna said many people have told her to be more careful in driving the car.

"The controversy around the Timor car has created a kind of public awareness that driving one is now more risky than any other car," she said.

"Sometimes, I feel unsafe while driving this car. Especially after witnessing that Timor cars were among those burned in various riots.

"This car belongs to my company. I wish I could change it with another brand but this is what my company offers me and to my other colleagues. Just for 'protection', I removed the logo at the back of the car," she said.

By doing so, she feels a bit more comfortable.

The story of the Timor car started following an ambitious plan set up on behalf of a national car project. PT Timor Putra National Timor, owned by former president Soeharto's son Hutomo (Tommy) Mandala Putra, was incorporated in 1996 in collaboration with Korea's Kia Motors Corps. Yet, controversy has dodged the company, locally and internationally.

The company was given luxury tax and import duty privileges. Soeharto's regime protected the Timor car project, which drew strong protest from the World Trade Organization.

Without a full feasibility study, the Timor car won a multimillion-dollar banking syndicated loan from private and state-owned banks.

The ongoing crisis has badly affected the project. Its privileges ended soon after Indonesia signed an economic bailout agreement with the IMF early this year. Now, PT Timor has to repay hundreds of million of dollars in import duty and luxury tax to the government.

Timor cars, as well as Bimantara cars, which were assembled by Tommy's brother Bambang Trihatmodjo, were among those damaged by rioters in May, a few days before Soeharto stepped down. Many believed this happened because of public anger against the crony capitalism created by Soeharto.

There are two types of Timor sedans in Indonesia, the S515 and the S515i. Both are derived from Kia Sephia. There is also a limited number of the J5201 jeep derived from Kia Sportage. PT Timor has carried out some modification in order to push sales but the logo has never been removed from the car.

In Indonesia, there are 39,000 Timor cars. But thousands remain idle at the company's parking lot in Cikampek, West Java, where there are plans to develop a plant.

Timor's price has almost double from the initial price when it was launched in 1996, yet, it is still competitive. The price starts at Rp 60 million per car, compared to prices of other cars in the same class, which are about Rp 100 million.

Special offers have been given to attract more buyers: a new car if the first one is totally damaged during a riot, or interest-free installments. But sales are slow as the car is not considered as a national car but as a product of Soeharto's dynasty.

Like Edna, many motorists who drive Timor cars have removed the Timor logo from the back of the vehicles for safety reason.

Physician Rhobdi said that he intentionally removed the logo to avoid attacks. "I understand that, to some extent, many people did not like Timor cars. I removed the logo so that people would not easily recognize it as a Timor," he said.

He said that the national car project was actually a good idea. "Unfortunately, it was put into the wrong hands. It should have been controlled by the government. I hope the government can now take over the project."

Samuel, a worker, also removed the logo from his Timor car, but he denied he did it for safety reasons. For him, removing the logo is a "habit", as he also removed the logos of his other cars before he drove a Timor.

He admitted, though, that many relatives and friends had reminded him not to drive his Timor car to areas with high crime rates.

"But any car can be a target, not only a Timor car."

He said that he likes the car because it is more powerful compared to other cars of the same class. The only weakness of his Timor car was its imperfect brakes, he said.

Abi's car is also a Timor but those who are not familiar with it might think that it is an Audi.

"I replaced the logo with an Audi car logo as both cars are slightly similar from the back," Abi said.

He removed the Timor sticker shortly after he bought it in early 1997 but the logo was taken off only after the May riots.

"I still feel worried, though I know there are many other cars also attacked."

He now drives it only around his housing complex in the Sunter area, North Jakarta. "To avoid something bad happening to me, I don't want to drive it far," he said.

But there are also many Timor car owners who do not have any problem with the brand.

Youva S. Wulandari, a worker, said that she is proud of the car and enjoyed driving it. She said that her father, who has a Mercedes, even likes to drive the Timor car sometimes.

"I understand there are many crimes now. But I am always confident that I won't experience bad luck."

She said that she sometimes took her university jacket in her car even though she has graduated. "Just in case I am trapped in student demonstrations," she said.

S. Nasution has two Timor cars at his home, one belongs to him, the other to his brother. "The logos are still in place. I don't have such a feeling, like being afraid while driving a Timor even though the car has not been insured yet," he said.

Yayat, who drives his company's Timor car, does not see the need to remove the logo, either. But he is more cautious now. "I won't drive when I hear there is a riot happening." But then, many others do not either, regardless the brand of their car.