With the development of a production hub for low cost green cars (LCGCs), Indonesia hopes to become the leading car producer within the group of ASEAN nations. Total car sales in ASEAN in 2012 surpassed the three million cars mark. The two largest contributors to these sales were Thailand (1.3 million sold cars) and Indonesia (1.1 million). Currently, Thailand is still the largest car production hub in the ASEAN region, both in terms of production rate and domestic sales (despite having only 60 million citizens to Indonesia's 240 million).

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A discount war ahead of Lebaran, the traditional celebration that follows after the holy fasting month of Ramadan is finished and when many Indonesians go back to their place of origin for a few days, is expected to spur car sales in July. It is a normal phenomenon that car sales increase ahead of Lebaran because an amount of people need a new car to carry them back to their places of birth. But this year the increase in car sales is expected to exceed sales figures in previous years as wholesalers use discount actions to reduce their car stockpiles.

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Indonesia's government expects expenditure on subsidized fuels in 2014 to amount between IDR 190-220 trillion (USD $19.2 to 22.2 billion). A high official at Indonesia's Finance Ministry, Robert Pakpahan, said that the assumption is based on a subsidized fuel quota of 48 to 51 million kiloliters and an Indonesian crude oil price of USD $100-115 per barel. Despite having raised the price of subsidized gasoline by 44 percent last week, it means that both volume quota and total expenditure on fuel subsidies will rise in 2014.

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Indomobil Sukses Internasional is - aside from Astra International - the leading Indonesian company in the country's automotive industry. Indomobil, established in 1976, is an integrated automotive business group which gains most of its revenues through its automotive business segment. Indomobil distributes various well-known international brands in Indonesia. These include Audi, Nissan, Renault, Suzuki, Volkswagen, and Volvo vehicles. With total Indonesian car sales reaching a record high in 2012, the company is engaged in a lucrative industry.

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Astra International, one of the largest diversified conglomerates and the dominating force in Indonesia's automobile industry, sold 268,072 cars in the first five months of 2013. Total car units sold in the same period stands at 497,670, which implies that Astra has a market share of 54 percent. Sales in January-May 2013 grew 8.47 percent compared to the same period in 2012. Astra's motorcycles sales grew 11.6 percent to 1,974,274 units. As such, Astra, which sells the Honda brand, has a 60 percent market share in Indonesia's motorcycle industry.

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Regarding car sales in the ASEAN region, Indonesia still trails behind Thailand according to recent data from the ASEAN Automotive Federation (AAF). In the first two months of 2013, Thailand's car sales increased 51.9 percent (YoY) to 255,727 car units, while Indonesia's car sales only increased 22.7 percentage points to 199,974 vehicles. Thailand controls about 43.5 percent of the ASEAN region's sales market. Indonesia comes in on second place with 34.0 percent market share.

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Indonesian car sales in Q1-2013 rose 17.8 percent to 295,465 units from 250,830 units in the same quarter last year. Astra International, one of the biggest conglomerates in Indonesia and the dominating force in Indonesia's automotive industry, had to hand in a couple of percentage points in terms of market share in domestic car sales. In Q1-2013, Astra controlled 52.3 percent of Indonesia's car sales, down from 58 percent in Q1-2012.

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Indonesia's demand for cars stayed strong as the first quarter of 2013 saw double-digit growth in car sales compared to the same period last year. According to Gaikindo (the Indonesian Automotive Industry Association), Indonesia posted an 18 percent growth in car sales in Q1-2013, which translates to 297,785 car units sold in this year's first quarter. However, Gaikindo believes that growth for full-year 2013 will be limited or equal to last year's record sales performance.

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During 2012, more than 400,000 Toyota vehicles were sold on the Indonesian market, a new record-high. This number makes Indonesia the fourth-largest market for Japan-based Toyota Motor Corporation. Indonesia has developed from a production hub into a major sales market, and therefore the Japanese company intends to invest about IDR 13 trillion (US $1.3 billion) in the next five years.

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Astra International, Indonesia's largest listed company by market capitalization, presented its Q1-2013 financial results yesterday. The company, which represents the dominating force in Indonesia's automotive sector, posted a seven percent fall in net earnings (YoY) to IDR 4,310 trillion (USD $444.3 million) amid Indonesia's rising labour costs, weak commodity prices, increased competition in the country's car sector and effects of new minimum down-payment regulations in automotive Shariah-financing.

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