Toyota raises car prices in response to rupiah's fall
JAKARTA (JP): PT Toyota-Astra Motor (TAM), one of the biggest car producers in Indonesia, raised car prices by between Rp 1 million (around US$350.85) and Rp 7 million as an adjustment to the sharp drop in rupiah against the U.S. dollar.
The company said the price of its popular Kijang vans were increased by between Rp 1 million and Rp 2.5 million while those for sedans were increased by between Rp 2 million and Rp 7 million.
The company said car prices should be adjusted to the increase in the dollar against the rupiah because most car components were purchased with dollars.
But the company said the price increases were made as small as possible so that it would not burden buyers.
The rupiah has declined by over 20 percent against the U.S. dollar since early January, most of which took place in the last few weeks due to speculative attacks from local and foreign fund managers.
Founded in 1971, Toyota-Astra Motor is 51 percent owned by publicly listed PT Astra International, Indonesia's biggest carmaker, and 49 percent by Japan's Toyota Motor Corporation.
Its products include Toyota Crown, Corona, Corolla and Starlet sedans, Kijang and Dyna vans as well as Land Cruiser jeeps.
The Kijang, the most popular vehicle in Indonesia, was first produced in the early 1970s. The company increased the new Kijang production to 7,800 vehicles in June to cope with the growing demand.
Dandy Pawiatan, an executive of PT Toyota Astra Motor, said the off-the-road prices (not including taxes) of the long flatdeck pick-up Kijang were increased by Rp 1 million to Rp 24.8 million from Rp 23.8 million, while the off-the-road prices for the pick-up Kijang of the flatdeck diesel model were increased to Rp 29.1 million from Rp 28.1 million.
The price increase for the Kijang van of SX and LX types was Rp 1.5 million.
Dandy Pawitan said the price increase of the sedan car was between Rp 2 million to Rp 7 million per vehicle.
He said the off-the road price of Toyota Land Cruisers, for example, was increased by Rp 7 million to Rp 187.7 million from Rp 180.7 million and Crown to Rp 188.6 million from Rp 181.6 million.
He said the price increase for the Starlet sedan was only Rp 2 million to Rp 50.1 million from Rp 48.1 million, Toyota Corolla Rp 3 million to Rp 70.3 million from Rp 68.3 million and Corona Rp 3 million to Rp 94.6 million from Rp 91.6 million.
Other cars
Several other automotive companies said earlier they would also raise car prices to meet the growing production cost as the result of the U.S. dollar's sharp increase against the rupiah.
Herman Z. Latief, an executive of the country's second largest auto producer PT Krama Yudha Tiga Berlian, said his company would definitely raise prices. But he declined to say how much.
PT Timor Putra Nasional, producer of the national "Timor" car, has also indicated it would raise the prices of Timor sedans if the dollar continues to strengthen against the rupiah.
"Whether we want to or not, if the dollar continues to strengthen we will have to adjust the Timor car price," Timor Putra president Hutomo Mandala Putra said last Sunday.
But he said the weakening rupiah would not inhibit the construction of his company's manufacturing facilities in Cikampek, West Java.
Timor Putra has been allowed to import Sephia sedans from South Korea's Kia Motors Corp. under the brand name "Timor" until the company's assembly plant is set up in 1999.
It is currently one of the cheapest sedans on the Indonesia market due to exclusive tax and tariff exemptions granted by the government, which allow Timor Putra to sell its cars at nearly 60 percent less than comparable models.
The company announced last week that it was expecting to receive a loan of US$690 million from a consortium of state and private banks to help Timor Putra build its plant in West Java, though the loan has yet to be signed. (08/aly/rid)