Toyota sees Indonesia 2007 vehicle sales up 10-20% http://today.reuters.com/news/articlebusiness.aspx?type=basicIndustries&storyid=nJAK293067&from=business
Mon Jan 22, 2007
JAKARTA, Jan 23 (Reuters) - Toyota Motor Corp (7203.T: Quote, Profile, Research) expects Indonesia's domestic vehicle sales to grow by 10-20 percent this year and aims to hold more than 34 percent of the domestic market, its local unit said.
An increase at the top end of that range would give sales of around 380,000 units, still well below a historical high of 533,910 in 2005.
PT Toyota Astra Motor, the distributor for Toyota vehicles in the world's fourth most populous nation, accounted for 38.8 percent of new vehicles sales in 2006, up from 34.2 percent in 2005, as domestic sales shrank by 40 percent.
"Toyota Astra Motor predicts that the total market will increase by 10-20 percent compared to 2006 sales achievement. Toyota aims to maintain market leader position with more than 34 percent in 2007," the firm said in a presentation to the media late on Monday.
Johnny Darmawan, the president director of Toyota Astra, said a market share of around 34 to 35 percent would be a realistic level for the company. "When we achieved 38.8 percent last year it was too good to be true ... We expect market share to come down as competition gets tougher," he told reporters.
Analysts say Toyota's strong brand, popular models and its after-sales service had cushioned the Japanese car maker against the decline in the overall market.
Toyota sold 123,703 cars and trucks in 2006, down by nearly a third from 2005 as the industry was hit by high interest rates and weak consumer purchasing power.
It wants to introduce a number of new models in the Indonesian market, including the leading hybrid car running on both gasoline and electricity, the Toyota Prius.
Toyota also exports some vehicles that are assembled in Indonesia. It is aiming to more than double such exports to around 40,000 units this year. Indonesia's largest automotive distributor, PT Astra International Tbk (ASII.JK: Quote, Profile, Research), controls 51 percent of Toyota Astra, while Toyota Motor holds the rest.
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