Tata Motors officially entered the Indonesian market this week with the launch of three flagship models, as part of broader plans to expand its presence across southeast Asia.
The company’s wholly-owned local distributor, PT Tata Motors Distribusi Indonesia, unveiled the Aria seven-seater MPV, the Vista subcompact passenger car and the Safari Storme SUV in Jakarta.
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By targeting some of Indonesia’s largest market segments, the Indian company hopes to generate some good sales volumes and to eventually begin local assembly.
Tata begins its market offensive with five sales and service outlets in the country, with four more to be added by the end of the year and a total of 15 outlets expected to be operational by March 2014.
But Tata will face stiff competition from Japanese manufacturers which are well entrenched in Indonesia where brand image and resale value are very important.
Separately, Tata announced plans to begin exports of its Xenon pickup truck from Thailand to Malaysia this week with a sales target of 500 units by the end of 2013. Indonesia will likely be the next export target for its Thai-made pickups.
The model has enjoyed limited success in Thailand so far despite the size of the domestic Thai pickup market. Sales in the first half of 2013 amounted to little over 1,000 units – equivalent to around 0.3% of the 326,000 pickups sold in the country in this period.
