New vehicle sales in Indonesia continued to fall in February, by over 13% to 81,684 units from 94,260 units a year earlier, according to wholesale data compiled by industry association Gaikindo.
This follows a 15% year-on-year decline in January, resulting in a 14% fall to 163,675 units in the first two months of the year from 190,240 units in the same period of 2018.
The market was driven lower by an almost 17% fall in passenger vehicle sales to 119,425 units year-to-date from 143,178 units a year earlier, reflecting a sharp decline in 4×2 non-sedan passenger vehicles, while commercial vehicle sales fell by 6% to 44,250 units from 47,062 units.
A total of 48,541 vehicles were sold under the Toyota brand in the first two months of the year, down by 8.5% year-on-year, while Daihatsu sales fell by 9.8% to 31,074 units; Mitsubishi Motors 22,416 units (-18.1%); Honda 20,701 units (-18.7%); and Suzuki 16,578 units (-26.7%).
The latest economic data shows GDP growth remained in a narrow range at just below 5.2% in the fourth quarter of 2018, with full year growth also at just under 5.2%. This was slightly higher than 5.1% in the previous year. Growth last year was underpinned increasingly by private consumption despite six successive interest rate hikes by the central bank which lifted its benchmark rate to 6.0% from 4.25% last year.
