Daihatsu invests Rp 2.1 trillion to increase production
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta - 24/02/2011
Japanese carmaker PT Astra Daihatsu Motor (ADM) will build a new factory worth Rp 2.1 trillion (US$230 million) with a capacity of 100,000 vehicles per year to meet growing domestic demand, a top executive said Wednesday.
ADM president director Sudirman Maman Rusdi said the 70,000-square-meter factory would be built in the first half of this year at the Suryacipta industrial estate in East Karawang, West Java.
“The factory will increase our capacity from 330,000 to 430,000 vehicles per year when it is operational at the end of 2012,” he announced at a press conference at the Industry Ministry.
“It will house a series of car-manufacturing processes such as metal stamping, welding, painting and assembling.”
He added that the factory would produce existing models of Daihatsu and Toyota, such as Daihatsu Xenia and Gran Max and Toyota Avanza and Rush, saying there was no plan to make new models in the factory.
The company — a joint venture between Daihatsu Motor Co. Ltd., PT Astra Internasional and Toyota Susho Corporation — currently runs the fifth largest factory of the Daihatsu and Toyota group in Sunter, North Jakarta, producing both Daihatsu and Toyota cars.
Sudirman said that in line with growing demand in recent years, the production of Daihatsu cars had more than tripled from only 95,496 in 2006 to 300,373 cars in 2010.
The company’s data show that sales of Daihatsu cars reached an all-time high of 115,703 cars in 2010, increasing 35.03 percent from only 75,169 units in 2009.
The Xenia multipurpose vehicle has had the largest sales since its introduction in 2003, with 63,141 cars being sold or 54.6 of total sales in 2010.
Marketing director Amelia Tjandra said ADM aimed to sell 125,000 cars this year, an increase of 8.7 percent, and expand its market share from 15.5 percent to 15.6 percent.
“We are upbeat about meeting the target despite factors such as the restriction in subsidized fuel and new taxes introduced in several provinces, such as in East Java,” she said.
“The domestic market will be the main priority of sales, with only 15 percent of total production being for export.”
Amelia said Indonesia was a market with high potential for her company due to its huge population and promising economic growth.
“Learning from China, the car market will grow faster if income per capita reaches more than $3,000. We believe Indonesia’s car market will also expand very well if our income per capita is higher,” she said.
Income per capita reached Rp 27 million last year (less than 2,940 at 2010 rates).
Recently, The Economist magazine predicted in its annual series The World in 2011 that with 245 million people in 2011, Indonesia’s GDP would reach about $806 billion, resulting in an income per capita
of $3,280.
PT Astra International-Daihatsu’s sales operation chief executive officer, Suparno Djasmin, said his company would build 10 new outlets with a total investment of Rp 300 billion to support the sales target. (lnd)