RI CAR SALES EXPECTED TO REACH RECORD HIGH

By Andi Abdussalam

Jakarta, Aug 19 (ANTARA) - Car production in Indonesia during   the current fasting month is dropping but automotive businesspeople are upbeat that their car sales this year will set a new record.          "Production during the current fasting month and next September will decline because overtime hours are being reduced," Johnny Darmawan, an Indonesian Motor Vehicle Industry Association (Gaikindo) executive, said.          He said car production in the current fasting month was slowing down because overtime hours could not be maximized as there were times for breaking the fast and holidays.          The same opinion was  voiced by Marketing Director of PT Toyota Astra Motor (TAM) Joko Trisanyoto. He said that in August Toyota sales could be going down because of declining stocks.          "In the current fasting month, production declines because overtime work cannot  be maximized," he said. He predicted that TAM's sales would decline by 18.5 percent from about 27,000 units in July to about 22,000 units this month.          Yet, this would not hamper the growth of car sales this year. Johnny said demand for cars in Indonesia is continuing to increase. He predicted that car sales in the country this year would set a new record, namely exceeding 700 thousand units.          He said that the highest sales figure so far was achieved in 2008 when car sales reached 600 thousand units. But this year, automotive businesses are upbeat to hit a record of over 700 thousand units.          After all, based on data available at Gaikindo, car sales in the country in the first semester of 2010 had reached 370,206 units, or about 76.2 percent of the total car sales during the whole year in 2009.           "We are convinced that car sales will reach a new record this year. This is because only in the first half of 2010 the number of cars sold already reached 76 percent of the total sales last year," Johnny said.          Toyota cars still dominate the sales, followed by Mitsubishi, Suzuki, Daihatsu and others.          In the meantime, Chief Operation officer of PT Astra International-Daihatsu Sales Operation (AI-DSO) Manager Toto Suryana, said Daihatsu car production is now declining in the current fasting month but it would return to normal again in October and December.          "This month coincides with the fasting month so that production could not be maximized causing supply to consumers to decline," he said.  He said that production was expected to drop further in September because there would be post-fasting month Lebaran holidays. Production is expected to return to normal in October and December, however.          In the January - July 2010 period sales increased 66.5 percent to 64,987 units, placing Daihatsu in the second biggest car sellers in the domestic market.          He said that in August 2010 Daihatsu car sales are expected to drop 16 percent from 11,700 units in July to 9,700 units this month due to the fall of supply from the factory.          Daihatsu production in Indonesia is carried out by PT Astra Daihatsu Motor (ADM) which is Daihatsu's sole authorized agent (ATPM) in Indonesia. Daihatsu sales are handled by AI-DSO. ADM has a factory in Sunter, North Jakarta with a capacity of 211 units per annum.          In this factory, ADM produces cars of Daihatsu trade mark which consists of Xenia minis bus, Terios, and Gran Max, as well as Toyota trade mark, namely Avanza and Rush.          ADM Marketing Director Amelia Tjandra said automotive sales began to increase after the economic condition had improved and the intensive sales promotion efforts had been made.          The biggest sales of Daihatsu were contributed by Xenia sales. In July this year the Xenia sales reached 6,355 units followed by Gran Max (2,939 units) and Terios (1,504 units). "We have set a target of sales up to 105 to 110 thousand units," Amelia said.          The encouraging development on car sales was also reflected in a 10-day expo early this month. The Indonesia International Motor Show (IIMS) 2010 succeeded to conclude Rp2.4 trillion in car sales transactions during the expo.          "We are satisfied at the IIMS's achievement this time," Chairman of Gaikindo Sudirman MR said.  The transactions rose 41 percent compared to last year and outstripped the Gaikindo-set target of Rp2 trillion, he said.           The increase was in line with the automotive growth which reached 76 percent in the first half of 2010 compared to the same period last year. "The number of cars sold in the expo is 10,087, while the number of visitors is 279 thousand compared to 241 thousand last year," he said.          He said car sale volume during the 10-day expo rose 50 percent from last year when car orders reached 5,518 units. Compared to last year, the number of sole authorized agents and automotive supporting industries taking part in this year's expo also rose to 22 and 181 respectively.***2*** (T.A014/A/HAJM/20:47/H-YH) 19-08-2010 21:08: