Jakarta (ANTARA Jambi) - Japanese car maker Toyota Motor Corp. has stopped production of its hatchback, Yaris, in Thailand and halted the delivery of 1,500 CC sedan cars to Indonesia, said an executive from the Indonesian branch of the company.
"Toyota Motor Corp's last Yaris delivery to Indonesia was in last June," President Director of PT Toyota Astra Motor (TAM) Johnny Darmawan told Antara here on Friday.
Therefore, the sales of Yaris in Indonesia have registered a continued decline since June this year.
The company sold 2,341 Yaris sedan cars in May this year, but the figure dropped to 1,739 the following month. The sales of the city car models declined further to 1,192 in July and fell sharply in August and September to 32 and 14, respectively.
However, according to Johnny, the Japanese automotive firm will not stop producing Yaris cars permanently. "The TMC is now (in the process of) remapping its global car production," he said.
He forecast that the company will unveil new models of cars aimed at young consumers early in 2014. "For the time being, the marketing for the car is pending the issuance of a completely new type of Yaris cars. This is only a time lag," he said.
Since Toyota Motor Thailand (TMT) has stopped production of Yaris cars in Thailand, it is anticipated that TMC will relocate its production base to Indonesia.
He said TMC Executive Vice President Director Yukitoshi Funo had touched upon this (relocation of production base) on the sidelines of a special interview with journalists during the Indonesian International Motor Show (IIMS) in Jakarta in 2012.
"Toyota in Thailand will focus on the production of eco-cars in accordance with the need and policy of that country," Johnny explained.
In the meantime, Toyota Astra Motor (TAM)'s marketing director, Rahmat Samulo, said last month that his company was optimistic Indonesia will soon overtake Thailand in terms of the world's highest Toyota sales.
"So far we have always been in the fifth place after the U.S., Japan, China, and Thailand. Only once were we able to surpass Thailand and that was in 2011. But that happened while Thailand was dealing with massive floods," he said at the Indonesia International Motor Show 2013 at JIExpo, Kemayoran, last month.
In view of the per capita income and population, there is a huge possibility for Indonesia to beat Thailand to the fourth place, he added.
However, he stated, this will not happen this year or next year. "Possibly it will happen in 2015," he forecast.
Samulo said Indonesia's position as the fifth largest country that sells Toyota cars makes it of strategic value for Japan's Toyota Motor Corporation and therefore, TMC executives have often visited Indonesia to see Toyota car production and marketing personally.
He said there are two Toyota companies in the country - Astra Toyota Motor, which looks after distribution, sales, after-sales services, and auto-parts sales; and, Toyota Motor Manufacturing Indonesia, which is responsible for production and exports.
"Eighty percent of Toyota cars in Indonesia are locally produced by Toyota Motor Manufacturing Indonesia (TMMIN). Besides (being sold in the) local market, some products have also been exported, mainly to countries in Asia Pacific and the Middle East," he said.(Ant)
