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Ready or Not: Budget Car Rolls Into Indonesia
Kinanti Pinta Karana, Arientha Primanita & Antara | January 14, 2011

China’s low-priced Panda could add to Jakarta’s congestion woes. (Antara Photo) China’s low-priced Panda could add to Jakarta’s congestion woes. (Antara Photo)
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mauriceg
10:32am Jan 15, 2011

I remember reading about a car called the Tata Nano, made in India. Basic versions of it would sell for around USD2,000(around 22 million rupiahs). Less basic versions of it with AC and some safety systems would sell for a bit more. At these prices, it would be much more affordable than this overpriced Chinese vehicle. I don't completely agree about the traffic increases if these latter vehicles were on sale, just above motorcycle prices. For example,these long journeys on religious holidays to kampungs for a family would now be civilised and safer. The driver might also appreciate how moronic and dangerous motorcycle riders are, once he is behind the wheel. So I would cautiously welcome new developments like this.

So where is the Tata Nano? Perhaps up and coming Indonesians wouldn't be seen dead in a basic vehicle like this. It doesn't have much snob value, with which to thumb one's nose at your neighbours who can only afford a motorcycle. The nouveau riche wannabe (with a bank loan) has to have something big and flashy to show off, a sign of conspicuous consumption.

Maybe some entrepreneurs can buy some Nanos for rent. They can then hire them out for that long journey home.

TGIF
9:14am Jan 15, 2011

Last paragraphs explained more of the positive side rather than the negative side. We all know the negative side of it why bother printing it...right?

Does the panda run on bamboo sticks?? An alternative mode of energy at the gas filling station.


SirAnthonyKnown-Bender
11:57pm Jan 14, 2011

“It’s a government blunder,” he told the Jakarta Globe.

Jesus. What are the odds ay?

tedjo
10:03pm Jan 14, 2011

No more cars,from china or otherwise people. Unless d gov't would offer motorcyclists incentives to switch to d new car..


Solar1s
6:06pm Jan 14, 2011

Maybe they will start thinking when they or their families are fighting for life on their way to the hospital then caught in an avoidable traffic where no vehicle can move an inch for hours.

COD : CO2 suffocation, cardiac arrest due to late medical attention, etc.

So stupid.

After flooding Indonesian markets with low-cost electronics, garments and household goods, China is now aiming at the country’s roads.

Budget priced at Rp 98 million ($10,900), the Geely Panda, produced by Chinese carmaker Geely Mobil, was on Thursday made available for test drives in Jakarta.

“It’s the cheapest in Indonesia for a 1300-cc class,” said Budi Pramono, president director of Geely Mobil Indonesia.

He added that the price was expected to go down over the next three years. “It will be cheaper so that we can win a bigger market.”

Despite the low sticker, Geely says the car comes standard-equipped with features such as airbags and power windows. 

“The Indonesian market holds very high potential for us,” said Nathan Sun, a marketing director with the carmaker.

In a country with notoriously poor public transportation, the affordable car may prove irresistible to the burgeoning middle class.

But transportation experts are already fretting over the thought of thousands more vehicles pouring onto Jakarta’s congested streets.

Fransiskus Trisbiantara, a transportation expert from Trisakti Univeristy, said the introduction of the imported budget vehicle into the Indonesian market showed the lack of coordination between the ministries of industry and transportation.

“It’s a government blunder,” he told the Jakarta Globe.

“After the boom in motorcycles, they have not done anything serious to manage the traffic. Jakarta roads will soon be more congested.”

Each day, roughly 1,200 new motorcycles and 260 new cars are registered in the capital.

This adds up to an annual growth rate of 10 percent for vehicles, as opposed to the 0.1 percent yearly expansion in the city’s roads.

One worry is that those who use less space-consuming motorcycles would shift to the cheap autos.

Waskito, a father of two whose family depends on his motorbike to get around, said he was interested in the Panda.

“I will go see it and if my wife likes it, we’ll buy it because we need a car desperately,” he said.

“I don’t have Rp 98 million but I will apply for a bank loan.”

Tri Tjahjono, head of the Jakarta branch of the Indonesian Transport Society (MTI), said cheap cars such as the Panda had both negative and positive aspects.

“On the safety side, a car would be safer than a motorcycle, which is the biggest cause of traffic accidents,” he said.

For a small family with children, he said, the car would be a safer option than ferrying them all on a motorcycle.