Toyota Was Asked to Discuss Agrinas' Pickup Procurement Project

Jakarta – Toyota Indonesia was invited to discuss with representatives of PT Agrinas Palma Nusantara (Persero) regarding a procurement project for 105,000 commercial vehicles to support the implementation of the Program Koperasi Desa/Kelurahan Merah Putih (KDKMP).

‘It is true that we at Toyota were briefly invited to discuss with colleagues from Agrinas regarding the planned procurement needs for pickups and light trucks; unfortunately, there was no agreement,’ said Jap Ernando Demily, Marketing Director of PT Toyota Astra Motor (TAM), in Jakarta, on Friday.

‘Why we couldn’t meet the decision to fulfil it, we are sorry, one of the reasons (regarding) the type of vehicles, price, we did not reach a consensus,’ he said.

Another factor that led Toyota not to reach an agreement with Agrinas on the pickup and truck procurement, according to Ernando, concerns the purchase price structure of the vehicles.

‘If you look at our price, for example the Hilux double cabin, around Rp456 million. But within the on-the-road price there are many components, ranging from the vehicle price, luxury tax, vehicle ownership transfer duty, and so on,’ he explained.

According to him, 4x4 pickups in Indonesia are taxed quite highly because regulations categorize them as vehicles that could be used for personal purposes.

‘The 4x4 pickups in Indonesia have quite a high tax because they are deemed perhaps more for personal use, whereas in practice what happens on the ground is that they are used more as work tools, which is also one of the reasons why, structurally, we could not achieve conformity,’ he explained.

However, he explained that producing vehicles in large numbers via assembling components at local facilities requires thorough preparation and time.

‘If we talk about CKD or local production, it takes time, it takes volume and economies of scale that are sufficient. Indeed, 105,000 units is a large figure, but we also have to consider the timing,’ he said.

PT Agrinas Palma Nusantara (Persero) has been under scrutiny for pursuing a large-scale procurement project for operational vehicles to support the distribution of agricultural products across various regions of Indonesia.

The state-owned company plans to import 105,000 vehicles from Indian manufacturers.

A total of 70,000 commercial vehicles will be purchased from Tata Motors, which will supply 35,000 Tata Yodha pickups and 35,000 Tata Ultra T.7 light trucks.

Mahindra & Mahindra, another Indian company, will supply 35,000 Mahindra Scorpio Pickup units.