BMW Indonesia reports record sales growth in 2009

A not very good year for the country’s automotive sector failed to push the prestige premium BMW off the road, with a pristine performance last year, as BMW Indonesia posted a trend-defying 25 percent growth in sales.

In a year when automotive sales dropped overall by 20 percent on the year before, 901 premium BMWs found happy owners in 2009, as against 720 a year earlier.

“We are extremely happy with the achievement. Indonesia is one of a few markets in the world where volume continued to grow significantly in 2009 despite the global economic crisis,” BMW Indonesia president director Ramesh Divyanathan told a press gathering.

BMW reported sales of 42 luxurious 750Li and 740Li saloons, plus 50 sales for the BMW 7 Series representing a 163 percent growth in sales against the previous year, leading BMW’s overall performance in sales growth for any given model.

The sales of the BMW 5 Series  did well at 208  cars sold, or a growth of 41 percent and the BMW 3 Series booked sales of 539 cars, or a growth of 34 percent for that model.

In addition, the sales of previously-owned BMWs, known as the BMW Premium Selection by Bestindo Car Utama saw an increase of 35 percent with 202 cars.

As for 2010, Divyanathan predicted a double digit growth, barring any unforeseen events, with BMW Indonesia planning to introduce 10 new models, as well making strategic investments in brand building, the refurbishment of dealer showrooms and sales facilities, and human resource training.

The Indonesian Automotive Industry Association (Gaikindo) expects sales of luxury cars to hit the 4,300 to 4,500 mark in 2010, up from around 3,700 units in 2009.

“Our focus is sustainable long-term growth and increased customer satisfaction,” Divyanathan said.

“We will avoid any short-term push that will affect the image of our brand in exchange for volume.”

He said it was not BMW’s policy to sell its cars to taxi companies.

“Our customers have told us they do not want to see any BMW taxis,” he said on the sidelines of the exclusive gathering.

The 10 new models to be introduced in Indonesia will feature BMW EfficientDynamics technology that reduces fuel consumption and CO2 emissions while continuing to provide outstanding performance and driving pleasure as expected  for BMWs.

“Our commitment to environmental protection in Indonesia is to bring technology such as BMW EfficientDynamics to the whole model range rather than to introduce a single so-called green model, for example,” Divyanathan said.

“The quantity of CO2 emissions that we can reduce by introducing the technology across the whole fleet of our cars in Indonesia will be much higher than if we offered this only for limited niche models.”

BMW Indonesia also launched Wednesday the BMW X6 M at the BMW Studio in Plaza Indonesia, Central Jakarta.

The new BMW X6 M is priced at Rp 2.3 to Rp 2.7 billion depending on features and options.

First published on The Jakarta Post on Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2010

Ministry aims for four-point ‘pro-welfare’ system

The Defense Ministry has set a four-point defense policy dubbed the “pro-welfare state defense system” for the 2010 fiscal year.

Defense Minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro said the first point was “optimizing the formulation and implementation of various regulations and policies on state defense”.

“The regulations include the 2002 State Defense Law and 2004 Indonesian Military [TNI] Law.”

Purnomo was addressing a press conference after opening a leadership meeting attended by ministry officials.

The meeting was also attended by TNI chief Gen. Djoko Santoso, Navy Chief of Staff Vice Adm. Agus Suhartono, Air Force Chief of Staff Vice Marshal Imam Sufaat and Army Deputy Chief of Staff. Lt. Gen. Suryo Prabowo.

“The second point is intensifying defense industry roles for national economic strength to support TNI and other government agencies, as well as to supply foreign markets,” Purnomo said.

The minister also called for the solidity and cooperation between his ministry and other ministries and agencies to achieve state defense missions.

“We are also developing patterns on the management of border areas and outlying islands,” Purnomo said.

He also said 2010 was the start of the 2010-2014 mid-term development plan facing various threats and challenges calling for policies on strategies, budgeting, human resources, legislation, facilities and infrastructure, and the management of defense potential.

The detailed policies included, among other things, the Minimum Essential Force, bureaucratic reform, defense industries, international cooperation, military business hand overs and the Indonesian Defense University.

Evaluating 2009, Purnomo said the defense ministry managed to absorb 100 percent of its budget compared to 90 percent in 2009 and the Supreme Audit Agency (BPK) had updated its opinion from “disclaimer” to “qualified”.

Purnomo said his ministry and the TNI was responsible for upholding state sovereignty, its territorial integrity and state safety.

“We are monitoring the limits of state safety because it incorporates a broad spectrum, from military to non-military,” he said.

“Non-military threats, in the mid-term, can be in the form of ideologies or politics.”

As for border areas, Purnomo said there were three conditions.

“First, we have yet to finish border negotiations with neighboring countries,” he said.

“Second, we have set the borders but are facing monitoring problems.

“Third, we have to monitor border-crossing posts.”

Purnomo pointed to the recently established National Border Management Agency led by the home affairs minister.

“The agency is managing border areas from a defense and socio-economic perspective,” he said.

“In fact, most problems are socio-economic.”

He cited the border along Papua province and Papua New Guinea (PNG) where the condition is much more stable on the Indonesian side.

“Recently a number of Papuans were repatriated from PNG because they did not live better in PNG,” 
he said.

The Indonesia-PNG land border continues for about 760 kilometers.

The land border between Indonesia and Malaysia runs for 2,004 kilometers. Another land border exists between Indonesia and East Timor, stretching 388 kilometers.

First published on The Jakarta Post on Wednesday, Jan. 13, 2010

Wed, 01/13/2010 9:32 AM