New vehicle sales in Indonesia increased by 7% to 66,447 units in January 2026, up from 62,084 units a year earlier, according to wholesale data compiled by the local automotive industry association Gaikindo.
The market last month benefited from additional working days compared with the same month last year, due to the timing of the Lunar New Year holidays which fall in February this year. Sales in February are expected to be weaker as a result. Compared with the strong sales in December, when sales rose by 18% to 94,100 units ahead of the end-of-year expiry of battery electric vehicle (BEV) import incentives and aggressive promotions by dealers, the market in January was down by 29%.
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Consumer sentiment has improved in recent months after the central bank cut its benchmark interest rate by 150 basis points since September 2024, to 4.75%. GDP growth accelerated to 5.4% in the fourth quarter of 2025, the strongest annualised growth since 2022, driven by strong domestic consumption and investment.
Sales of light passenger vehicles increased by 4.6% year-on-year to 50,643 units in January, while commercial vehicles rose by over 15% to 15,804 units – driven by strong deliveries of pickup trucks. Sales of small internal combustion engine (ICE) passenger cars under the government’s ‘Affordable Energy Saving Car’ programme continued to decline sharply, by 22% to 10,694 units. Deliveries of battery electric vehicles (BEVs) surged fourfold to 11,460 units, as manufacturers stepped up deliveries ahead of the registration deadline for BEV incentives as well as increasing local production.
Toyota’s sales declined by 9% year-on-year to 20,078 units in January, while Daihatsu’s sales rebounded by 25% to 12,513 units after falling sharply last year. Mitsubishi also reported strong growth last month, of 37% to 6,898 units, while BYD moved into fourth place after its sales quadrupled to 4,879 units. Honda and Suzuki struggled to keep up, with sales declining by 45% to 4,016 units and 44% to 2,783 units respectively.
Overall vehicle production in the country rose by 7.5% to 100,757 units last month, supported by a 20% rise in exports of fully assembled vehicles to 40,003 units.
GlobalData forecasts sales of light vehicles in Indonesia to continue to decline in 2026, by almost 4% to 721,000 units from 729,000 units in 2025, before staging a moderate recovery in 2027.
