Hundreds of completely built-up cars ready for export at Tanjung Priok Port in Jakarta. (Photo: Antara News)Jakarta (VNA) – Indonesian Industry Minister Agus Gumiwang Kartasasmita has said that the country's auto exports havebeen on an upward trend since 2018, despite a sluggish global automotiveindustry.
Indonesia’s automotiveexport performance last year was very positive, with 332,000 Completely BuiltUp (CBU) units shipped abroad in 2019, up 25.5 percent from the previous year,he said.
Meanwhile,exports of Completely Knocked Down (CKD) vehicles reached 511,000 units, an increase of 523.5 percent from 2018,he added.
According toAgus, the commercial vehicle market in 2019 faced many challenges. One of them was a slowdown in the nationaleconomy due to continuing global uncertainties and a current account deficit experiencedby the government.
The ministersaid that the domestic automotive industry might still be able to help thegovernment reduce the trade balance deficit by increasing exports, and at thesame time meeting President Joko Widodo's vehicle export target.
Seeing thepositive trend, Indonesia has now set a target for the CBU vehicle export of 1million units by 2024, Agus said. Growth in the automotive sector meanwhile isexpected to rise to 6 percent by 2020.
Production ofbuses, trucks and pickup trucks in Indonesia last year fell 16.2 percent from2018 to 241,000 units. Domestic sales in 2019 also fell 10.8 percent to only232,000 units./.
VNA
