Mitsubishi Motors Corporation (MMC) on Tuesday held the groundbreaking ceremony for its new Indonesian car factory in the GIIC Industrial Estate in Bekasi Prefecture.
The event was hosted by Mitsubishi Motors Krama Yudha Indonesia (MMKI), MMC’s joint manufacturing company with Mitsubishi Corporation (MC) and Indonesian partner PT Krama Yudha (KY).
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The new plant with production capacity of 160,000 units a year, will start operations in April 2017. It will build the upcoming redesigned Pajero Sport SUV followed by a completely new small MPV and then the long running Colt L300 van popular in Asia (currently assembled locally under contract).
Some parts for vehicles built there will be exported to other ASEAN countries as MMC’s next major ASEAN production hub after the Laem Chabang Plant in Thailand.
MMC said: “Indonesia has the fourth largest population in the world and demand for passenger cars mainly for small MPVs is growing in the market as its economy continues to grow. In this context, developing the passenger car business in addition to the current light commercial vehicle business has become a necessity in order to effectively respond to the coming demand increase in Indonesia. MMC plans to expand business in Indonesia by switching from the current consignment [contract assembly] production to in house production through the new plant.”
At the ceremony, MMC chairman & CEO, Osamu Masuko, described MMC’s progress in the country: “For 45 years since 1970, together with business partners we have been developing business in Indonesia along with the growth of the automobile market of the country. In order to achieve further development in the next 45 years, we decided to establish MMKI and build its new manufacturing plant at the GIIC Industrial Estate. We will further contribute to the development of Indonesia’s automobile industry and society through employment of 3,000 staff at the new manufacturing plant, development of new part suppliers, promotion of local part procurement, technology transfer, and export.”
MMC now considers the ASEAN region its most important market and said it would work on restructuring and strengthening its business there “to achieve sustainable growth and enhance corporate value”.
“The initiatives to this end are represented by the largest production capacity in Thailand among overseas production hubs, start of production at a new plant in the Philippines since this January, and a new manufacturing plant and new model launches in Indonesia.
“Through these projects MMC aims to expand overall production and sales by utilising ASEAN production capabilities to fill each country’s needs.”
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Outline of MMKI Plant
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