Volkswagen AG plans to open a new assembly plant in Indonesia with an initial investment of 35 million euros, or about $47 million, a sign that the Southeast Asian nation’s still-robust consumer spending is keeping it attractive to foreign companies.

The planned facility, an hour east of Jakarta, the capital, will begin assembling the Touran, a compact multipurpose vehicle, and could eventually employ between 2,000 and 4,000 people, said a person with knowledge of the discussions. The Wolfsburg, Germany-based company plans to initially invest in assembly and paint operations, spending 35 million euros or more, and may later begin full manufacturing at the factory, its first facility in East Asia outside China, the person said.

Christoph Adomat, a spokesman for Volkswagen, confirmed the assembly facility would initially produce several hundred passenger cars starting in the summer, with output being steadily increased thereafter.

“This local vehicle assembly is to be set up as Volkswagen’s first step toward the long-term development of Asean markets,” Mr. Adomat said. He declined to comment on the potential size of the investment.

Indonesia is part of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or Asean, which has a free-trade agreement among its ten members and has also signed trade pacts with Australia, New Zealand and Japan.

The investment comes after Volkswagen failed to reach an agreement in 2007 over an alliance with Proton Holdings Bhd., Malaysia’s state-owned car maker. That deal would have potentially given the German auto maker access to Proton’s manufacturing facilities. Volkswagen was also looking at an investment in Thailand, home to Southeast Asia’s largest auto industry, said the person with knowledge of the talks. Mr. Adomat declined to comment on that.

Toyota Motor Corp., Ford Motor Co. and General Motors Corp. have production facilities in Thailand. In Indonesia, Toyota, which manufactures locally, dominates the market. Although total Indonesian vehicle sales are forecast by Toyota’s local affiliate to fall 30% this year, from a record 600,000 units in 2008, the company expects the market to recover in 2010, and overall consumer spending has held up better in Indonesia than many other Asian countries.

Economists predict Indonesia’s economy will grow around 3% this year, down from 6.1% in 2008, but still a top performer in the region. Indonesia relies on domestic spending for two-thirds of its gross domestic product, helping cushion it more from the global economic slowdown than export-dependent Asian nations.

Consumer confidence in April, following peaceful legislative elections earlier that month, reached its highest level since December 2007, according to a central bank survey released this week.

Currently, Volkswagen cars are imported into Indonesia, meaning they are hit by tariffs of more than 200%. By assembling locally, Volkswagen’s cars will be significantly cheaper for consumers than current prices.

Nissan Qazan is below of Qashqai will be made in Malaysia (Tanchong Plnat) and Indonesia plant to supply asia and asean market,UK plant build for Europe market.

Some specification is based on B-platform mouted by  HR15DE,HR16DE and MR16DDT Directinjection+Turbocharged more powerful and fuel efficiency.

P.T. Honda Prospect Motor, Honda’s automobile manufacturing and sales joint venture in Indonesia, announced plans to produce and sell the Freed model in Indonesia, starting June 2009. In addition, exports to multiple countries in the Southeast Asia region are scheduled to begin before the end of this year. Indonesia will be the first country in regions outside Japan where the Freed will be produced and sold.

In Indonesia, demand for multi-passenger vehicles, categorized as “Multi Purpose Vehicle (MPV),” is high and increasing to the point where it accounts for approximately 40% of total auto sales in that country*1. With the Freed, Honda will propose a new value of “comfortable and stylish minivan” targeting the “new family” demographic in urban areas.

The Freed is a new compact minivan which fuses an easy-to-maneuver compact body size, spacious cabin which comfortably seats adults in all three rows, and stylish design. Since its introduction in May 2008, sales of the Freed in Japan has been very strong, with cumulative sales during the second half of calendar year 2008 (July – December 2008) ranking number one in the minivan category*2 in Japan.

Based on Honda’s long-standing commitment to “build products close to the customer,” Honda has been establishing a complementary regional supply system for parts and finished vehicles while leveraging unique characteristics and advantages of each market. In the case of the Freed, parts and components will be procured in multiple countries, mostly in the ASEAN region including Thailand, Malaysia and the Philippines, to enhance the competitive advantage of the product. Honda will accelerate an effort to further strengthen its business foundation and continue providing products beyond customers’ expectations in Indonesia and other markets in Asia where long-term growth is expected.

*1 In 2008, industry-wide MPV (excluding hatchback type) sales in Indonesia was 231,000 units, whereas overall automobile sales was 608,000 units.
*2 Minivan category means vehicles with three rows of seats.

Proton Holdings Bhd expects to export its first home-grown multi-purpose vehicle (MPV) to Thailand and Indonesia by July, according to chairman Datuk Mohd Nadzmi Mohd Salleh.

“However, our priority is to satisfy local demand first,” he said at a ceremony to unveil the name of the MPV yesterday.

Proton will mark its foray into the MPV market when the Exora, priced at below RM80,000, is launched in April.

“We need to export our vehicles as our local market is not big enough for us to became a major automotive player,” Nadzmi said, adding that Proton had invested RM450mil in the development of the MPV and production would be at its Shah Alam plant.

“We plan to produce 3,000 to 3,500 MPVs per month,” he said.

Powered by 1.6-litre CamPro engine, the new Exora will open for booking from Feb 21 at all 293 Proton Edar and EON sales offices nationwide. It is priced at below RM80,000 and the booking fee is set at RM1,000.

The Exora is based on the name of the Ixora flower.

Syed Zainal Abidin said delivery of the MPV will be in April for those who book this Saturday.

Asked on the response for the new Exora, Proton Holdings’ chairman Datuk Mohd Nadzmi Mohd Salleh said: “Even though the country is hit by the global financial crisis, the response for national cars is still very good.”

He said having a second car was the local trend as “the Malaysian family is quite big and this vehicle is a requirement in the market”.

Being designed for family, the model will be affordable, spacious and comfortable, he added.

New Kijang Innova : Reflection of Ideal Indonesian Family Car
The Most Ideal Indonesian Family Car

PT Toyota Astra Motor presents the modern and luxurious New Kijang Innova for Indonesian family. As market leader and pioneer in MPV market for more than 3 decades, Toyota keep on improving the design and feature, as well as maintaining high quality and best services for Indonesian family.

New Kijang Innova launching is Toyota ’s commitment in giving happiness and better life for everyone, by giving best product and high quality services. New Kijang Innova becomes one of Toyota innovation and best product to customers, especially MPV market in Indonesia .

”In more competitive MPV market nowdays, New Kijang Innova is a market leader in MPV class (up to 60% market share), it is because New Kijang Innova features are beyond average in MPV market and match with customer need. Therefore, we always keep on improving by giving best product and high quality services to make New Kijang Innova as the first choice for Ideal Indonesian family car. ” said Johnny Darmawan, President Director PT. Toyota Astra Motor.
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Jakarta, Oct 14 (Xinhua) Indonesia’s capital will introduce a ‘car free day’ every month even though an experiment last month failed due to poor publicity.The light traffic in Jakarta during the Eid-ul-Fitr (the end of fasting month of Ramadan) holiday had shown a considerable reduction in air pollution, convincing the capital’s administration to have the ‘car free day’ more frequently, Antara news agency Sunday quoted the capital’s governor Fauzi Bowo as saying.‘We estimated that 70 percent of air pollution in Jakarta came from vehicle emission,’ Fauzi said.Last month, the local government declared the main thoroughfare free from car on a Saturday. But the trial run was poorly communicated, and many people were unawares. The traffic, which was normally light on Saturdays, became heavily congested in Central Jakarta.With a population of about 10 million, Jakarta is the largest city in Indonesia. It was estimated that there are more than three million vehicles and numerous motorcycles in the city.