Surge in Demand for Green Cars–Survey

Jakarta — The demand for green cars in Indonesia is rapidly increasing and has encouraged car manufacturers to be more innovative, according to a survey result.

“Technological advancement has influenced the development of a new generation of smart cars that has encouraged manufacturers to continue making innovations,” Domy Halim, the country manager of Ipsos Business Consulting Indonesia stated here on Tuesday.

He remarked that the car markets in developing countries are the key drivers of the global automotive industrial growth.

“After the global economic crisis, car markets in developing countries have become more lucrative than those in developed nations. Developing countries are forecast to constitute two-thirds of the car sales next year,” Domy emphasized.

Foreign direct investment in the automotive sector in Indonesia has shown an increase of about 114 percent between 2010 and 2013.

The presence of low cost green cars (LCGC) in Indonesia has also encouraged manufacturers to launch new models, such as Toyota Agya, Daihatsu Ayla, Suzuki Karimun R, and Honda Brio Satya.

The government is offering support in the form of free luxury product sales taxes for the production of LCGC, especially for those with a maximum capacity of 1.2 thousand cubic centimeters and having an average of 20 kilometers per liter.

Domy said that since their launch in September 2013, the LCGC models have been able to record sales of about 10 to 15 thousand per month. (PNA/Antara News) CTB/EBP