The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
PT Honda Prospect Motor (HPM), the local unit of Japanese automotive giant Honda, sold 12,500 vehicles in Indonesia during the first semester of this year, a 13 percent increase from the same period last year.
Monthly sales in April showed a 21 percent increase to 3,754 vehicles from 3,084 in March, Jonfis Fandy, Honda director of marketing and after-sales service, said Thursday in Jakarta.
The All New CRV and Honda Jazz are the two mainstays of the automotive company. The All New CRV, since it was first launched in January this year and the end of the first quarter, has sold 5,608 units, and controls 49 percent of the SUV market.
The Jazz, which was launched in early 2004 and is aimed at the youth market, sold 4,821 units during the same period, giving it an 11 percent share of the small MPV class.
Besides these two mainstays, the Honda City and Honda Civic also put in good performances during the first quarter, holding 61 percent and 71 percent market shares in their respective classes.
As for the rest of 2007, Jonfis said that Honda would continue to focus on the Jazz and CRV.
"We will also concentrate on increasing customer satisfaction this year. We believe that this is the key to increasing sales," he told The Jakarta Post during a ceremony to mark the handover to Honda's new president director in Indonesia, Yukihiro Aoshima.
Yukihiro, who previously served as president and CEO of Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India, replaces Kenji Otaka, who is taking up the post of president director of Honda Automobile Thailand after heading up HPM in Indonesia for five years.
With the current low lending rates, Honda is predicting that national automotive sales will increase to between 380,000 and 400,000 this year from 330,000 last year
Separately, Mitsubishi launched its Strada Triton, a 4x4 pickup, here on Thursday, to join the three existing Mitsubishi Strada versions.
Designed for off-road use, the 4-wheel-drive Strada Triton, which is capable of a maximum speed of 167 kmh, has a 2,477 cc engine and a 75 liter gas tank.
Rizwan Alamsjah, marketing director of PT Krama Yudha Tiga Berlian Motors, the sole distributor of Mitsubishi vehicles in Indonesia, said that although the Strada Triton was built for off-road driving, it was also suitable for city conditions, with stylish exteriors and interior designs.
The Strada Triton is the first Mitsubishi pickup to be fitted with the "low-pressure common rail" system, which produces more power and less pollution.
"This car is environmentally friendly and energy saving, and gives between 13 and 17 km per liter," said Rizwan.
PT Krama is hoping to sell between 50 and 100 Strada Tritons per month at an off-road price of Rp 236 million (US$27,110) each.
"The Mitsubishi Strada line had a market share of 56.5 percent in 2006 for 4x4 pickups. We expect that its share will increase this year with the addition of the Strada Triton," Rizwan said.
Mitsubishi, which has been the market leader for 4x4 pickups in Indonesia since 2004, sold 4,000 Mitsubishi Stradas last year and expects to sell 6,000 this year.
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