In the first quarter of 2013, Indonesia's manufacturing sector has received increasingly more investments compared to the same period last year. Investors directed IDR 53.26 trillion (USD $5.5 billion) towards Indonesia's manufacturing sector out a total of IDR 93 trillion (USD $9.6 billion) investment in Q1-2013. Compared to Q1-2012, investment in the manufacturing sector grew 84 percent. It is a positive development as it reduces Indonesia's dependence on natural resources, produces added-value products, and provides employment opportunities.

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Across Indonesia, demand for used cars remains strong (exceeding sales of new cars by a wide margin), and this offers a lucrative market for players in the country's second-hand car industry. Meanwhile, it also points at a shifting consumer pattern that exposes a weakness in the Indonesian economy.

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While one month ago we read (in Indonesian media) that Indonesian President Joko Widodo vowed no increase in prices of subsidized fuels before the end of 2022, the situation suddenly changed. Based on reports in Indonesian media in the second half of August 2022 there were growing signs that the government was busy preparing a significant increase in prices of subsidized fuels (involving Pertalite and Pertamax gasoline fuels as well as automotive diesel oil) to safeguard a healthy budget balance for the government.

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At its latest monetary policy meeting, which ended on 18 February 2021, the central bank of Indonesia (Bank Indonesia) decided to cut its benchmark interest rate (BI 7-Day Reverse Repo Rate), again, by 25 basis points (bps) to 3.50 percent, touching a historically low level.

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The automotive industry is among the hardest-hit industries amid the coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis. In May 2020, when social and business restrictions were still very strict in places like Jakarta, car sales (wholesales; from the factories to the dealers) plunged 95.8 percent year-on-year (y/y) to 3,551 cars. Meanwhile, retail car sales dropped 96.1 percent (y/y) to 17,083 vehicles in May 2020. Never before had the Association of Indonesian Automotive Manufacturers (or Gaikindo) recorded such weak car sales figures.

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Indonesia may file a complaint at the World Trade Organization (WTO) over Vietnam's recent decision to tighten regulations related to car imports. Through Decree No. 116/2017/ND-CP on Overseas Vehicle Type Approval (VTA) (which has been in effect since 1 January 2018), Vietnam requires car exporters to obtain VTA certification first (from authorities in the exporting nation) before being allowed to export cars into Vietnam. This VTA details incoming vehicles' quality, safety and environmental protection.

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The biggest problem for western car-makers is the dominant position of Japan in Indonesia's automotive market. Japan has been dominating the Indonesian car market since the 1970s and there are no signs that this situation will change in the short or long term.

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After Ford Motor Indonesia, the local unit of American car manufacturer Ford Motor Company, exited Indonesia earlier this year as the company found it too difficult to compete with Japanese counterparts on the Indonesian market, Ford found a new way to make sure its components and after sales services can be delivered in Southeast Asia's largest economy.

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The government of Indonesia eyes rapid growth of car exports in the two decades ahead. By the year 2035 the government targets to see car shipments from Indonesia rise to 1.5 million vehicles (from around 200,000 exported units in 2016). By that year, exported vehicles should contribute 37.5 percent of total Indonesian car sales.

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A new player in Indonesia's automotive industry - backed by big carmakers from China and the USA - is eager to compete for market share in Indonesia. On Tuesday (11/07) SGMW Motor Indonesia inaugurated its first manufacturing facility in Cikarang (West Java). This local company is a joint venture between (1) SAIC Motor Corporation Ltd, a Chinese state-owned automotive design and manufacturing company headquartered in Shanghai, (2) General Motors Company (GM), a US multinational automotive corporation headquartered in Detroit, and (3) Liuzhou Wuling Automobile Industry Co Ltd, a China-based car manufacturer.

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Indonesia's automotive industry is centered around Bekasi, Karawang and Purwakarta in West Java. In this area various big global car-makers invested in industrial estates as well as car and component manufacturing plants. Therefore, it has become the production base of Indonesia's automotive sector (including motorcycles) and can be labelled the "Detroit of Indonesia". Detroit (Michigan, USA) is the birthplace of the US automotive industry and is home to car giants General Motor, Chrysler, and Ford.

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