Indonesia’s auto exports on the rise despite global slowdown

Jakarta (VNA) – Indonesian Industry Minister Agus Gumiwang Kartasasmita has said that the country's auto exports have been on an upward trend since 2018, despite a sluggish global automotive industry.

Indonesia’s automotive export performance last year was very positive, with 332,000 Completely Built Up (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 to Agus, the commercial vehicle market in 2019  faced many challenges. One of them was a slowdown in the national economy due to continuing global uncertainties and a current account deficit experienced by the government.

The minister said that the domestic automotive industry might still be able to help the government reduce the trade balance deficit by increasing exports, and at the same time meeting President Joko Widodo's vehicle export target.

Seeing the positive trend, Indonesia has now set a target for the CBU vehicle export of 1 million units by 2024, Agus said. Growth in the automotive sector meanwhile is expected to rise to 6 percent by 2020.

Production of buses, trucks and pickup trucks in Indonesia last year fell 16.2 percent from 2018 to 241,000 units. Domestic sales in 2019 also fell 10.8 percent to only 232,000 units./.