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Today's Headlines Automotive
Chinese car manufacturers seem not afraid to compete with their Japanese counterparts on Indonesian soil. After Wuling Motors arrived in Indonesia in mid-2017, now another Chinese car-maker, Sokonindo Automobile, has started operations in Indonesia, Southeast Asia's largest car market.
The Association of Indonesian Automotive Industries (Gaikindo) lowered its forecast for car sales in Indonesia in full-year 2017. Initially Gaikindo expected to see 1.1 million car sales in Indonesia this year. However, the target has now been revised to 1.06 million units. The revision was particularly attributed to weak sales within the (lower) middle class segment.
Based on the latest data from the Association of Indonesian Automotive Industries (Gaikindo), automotive sales in Indonesia rose 2.6 percent year-on-year (y/y) to 94,461 vehicles in October 2017 on the back of rising demand for commercial vehicles. Growing demand is boosted by recovering coal and crude palm oil (CPO) prices.
General Motors manufactured its last Holden car at the Adelaide factory on Friday (20/10), hence effectively ending the once-iconic Australian car industry. From now on Australians will have to buy cars that were imported from abroad. While other governments have been keeping national automotive industries alive after the financial crisis through bailouts, the Australian government saw no real economic reason to keep this industry alive.
Mitsubishi Corporation is considering to relocate its Mitsubishi Fuso factory - where commercial vehicles are built - away from the city in Pulo Gadung (East Jakarta). Noboru Tsuji, Senior Vice President of Mitsubishi Corporation and Division Chief Operating Officer of the Motor Vehicle Business Division, announced this plan.
BMW, the Germany-based automobile manufacturer, said it will continue to focus on supplying cars for Indonesia's elite. The company specifically aims for the top officials working at embassies and international organizations in Indonesia. Currently, BMW already supplies its vehicles to 36 embassies in Indonesia as well as five representative offices of international organizations.
The Indonesian government is preparing two locations - Kendal (Central Java) and Gresik (East Java) - as alternatives for the automotive manufacturing industry in Indonesia. Currently, West Java (specifically Karawang) is the nation's car manufacturing hub where most carmakers establish their manufacturing facilities.
Astra International, one of Indonesia's largest diversified conglomerates, sold 398,995 cars in the first eight months of the year, up 9 percent year-on-year (y/y) from the company's car sales in the January-August 2016 period. The Astra Group, the biggest force in Indonesia's automotive sector, now controls 56 percent of the nation's car sales market.
The Indonesian government officially announced it will use the UN Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) standard as the reference for the nation's local Indonesian National Standard (in Indonesian: Standardisasi Nasional Indonesia, or SNI) with regard to various automotive components.
The latest data from the Indonesian Automotive Industry Association (Gaikindo) show Indonesia's wholesale car sales rose 37.54 percent year-on-year (y/y) to 85,131 vehicles in July 2017. However, these data are distorted because the Ramadan and Idul Fitri celebrations fell in June this year, while they fell in July last year (implying there were much less workdays in July 2016). What were the 10 most sold cars in Indonesia in July 2017?
Latest Columns Automotive
Car sales in Indonesia continued to decline. Based on the latest data from the Indonesian Automotive Industry Association (Gaikindo) Indonesian car sales (delivery to dealers) fell around 10 percent year-on-year (y/y) to 84,885 vehicles in the first month of the year from 94,194 units in January 2015. Retail sales, on the other hand, showed a 1 percentage point growth to 82,423 vehicles over the same period.
The Indonesian government approved the request of Indonesia's automotive sector to be exempted from the anti-dumping duties that have been imposed on imports of steel from specific countries. Through Finance Ministry Regulation No. 65/2013 on Anti-Import Duties, the government set import duties - ranging between 7 and 55.6 percent - for steel imports from China, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and Vietnam in an effort to protect the domestic steel manufacturing industry amid a global steel oversupply (particularly caused by a supply glut in China).
Whereas the Indonesian Automotive Industry Association (Gaikindo), expects Indonesia's car sales to rise five percent (y/y) in 2016 on the back of improving economic conditions, US-based consulting firm Frost & Sullivan expects to see a 4.3 percent decline in the country's car sales this year as continued rupiah depreciation and persistently low commodity prices undermine Indonesians' purchasing power.
Indonesian car sales may rise up to ten percent (y/y) to 1.1 million vehicles in 2016, from an estimated 1 million this year, amid accelerating economic growth in Indonesia. Car sales in 2015 have been disappointing, declining 18 percent (y/y) to 853,008 units in the first ten months of 2015, due to people's weakening purchasing power. Sales in 2016 are expected to be boosted by sales of the low-cost green car (LCGC), which was introduced on the Indonesian market in late-2013, and the crossover utility vehicle, a car that has gained popularity recently.
The structure of Indonesia's automotive industry remains weak as it is too dependent on imports of raw materials, making sales prices of cars highly vulnerable to the volatile Indonesian rupiah. The automotive industry has been one of the many local industries that has been plagued by Indonesia's economic slowdown and fragile rupiah (amid looming tighter monetary policy in the USA) as people's purchasing power has weakened. In the first ten months of 2015, Indonesian car sales stood at a total of 853,008 units, down 18 percent from car sales in the same period last year.
Indonesian automotive group Indomobil Sukses Internasional is facing challenges in 2015. The listed company, affiliated with the Salim Group (one of Indonesia’s largest conglomerates), is plagued by intense competition in the car industry of Indonesia, while it also feels the negative impact of the weak rupiah (which is depreciating against the US dollar). Over 2014, the company posted a net loss of IDR 128.2 billion (USD $9.9 million), down significantly from net profit of IDR 532.5 billion it recorded in the preceding year.
Car sales in Indonesia declined 8 percent to 98,198 units in May 2014 from 106,811 units in the previous month. The Indonesian Automotive Industry Association (Gaikindo) said that the decline was the direct consequence of several public holidays (International Labour Day and the commemorations of Buddha’s birthday as well as ascensions of Prophet Muhammad and Jesus Christ). These holidays caused a lower car production rate and a reduced number of car deliveries to wholesale dealers.
According to a survey of the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC), 44.9 percent of respondents assessed Indonesia as the most promising investment destination for the next three years. The respondents in this survey involved 500 Japanese companies that engage in international businesses. For Indonesia it is the first time in 21 years that it forms the preferred choice of overseas investments for Japanese companies, thus replacing China. In 2013, Japan already dominates foreign direct investment in Indonesia.
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.
Associated businesses Automotive
