VW passenger cars reenter RI market

JAKARTA (JP) : PT Car and Cars Indonesia (CCI) launched on Friday three new Volkswagen (VW) passenger car models in a move to reenter the Indonesian car market.

CCI president Wenda Wonoseputro told the Jakarta Post on Friday that after being absent for about 20 years, VW had returned to Indonesia to satisfy the demand from car enthusiasts.

The three new VW car passenger models include the 1.6 and 1.7 liter Golf, 1.8 and 2.8 Passat and the new 2.0 Beetle.

CCI, which is a sister company of Singapore-based Car and Cars Singapore, would act as marketing, spareparts supplier as well as providing after-sale service for VW cars in Indonesia.

Speaking on the sidelines of the launching ceremony, Wenda expressed optimism that the local market would respond well to the VW cars.

"Now is the right time to start investing as the country's economic and political condition is starting to improve," Wenda said.

"Although we only have four months before the year ends, we are optimistic that we will be able to sell 150 VW cars in which about 60 percent will be related to the sale of the Golf model," she said.

She added that the company expected to sell more than 600 cars the following year.

The newly launched VW passenger cars would be aimed at the upper end of the market, Wenda said.

"The Golf and Passat models will compete with luxury cars such as the Audi A3, Mercedes Benz, BMW series 3 and Volvo S40, while the new VW Beetle so far has no competitor in this country," she said.

She said that the 1.6 and 1.7 Golf models will be sold respectively at Rp 265 million (about US$30,000) and Rp 290 million, the Passat 1.8 and 2.8 at Rp 450 million and Rp 535 million, while the new VW Beetle will be priced at Rp 405 million.

Wenda said that CCI would provide a year's guarantee and an exclusive after-sales service to its customers.

She added that CCI also planned to introduce VW passenger cars to the Multi Purpose Vehicle (MPV) and Sport's Utility Vehicle (SUV) in 2003.

She said that CCI has so far invested $2.5 million in the country with the opening of a new representative office as well as outlets, adding that the company expected to open new outlets in Bandung and Surabaya next year.

The Association of Indonesian Automotive Industries (Gaikindo) predicted earlier that domestic car sales in 2001 would decline to 280,000 units from 300,000 last year.(11)