New vehicle sales in Indonesia surged by 55% to 80,776 units in April 2026, up from weak year-earlier sales of 52,108 units, according to wholesale data compiled by the local automotive industry association, Gaikindo.

The vehicle market last month also rebounded from weak levels in the previous month due to the long annual Eid holidays, which fell in March this year instead of April last year. Consumer sentiment has improved in recent months following multiple interest rate cuts by the central bank over the last two years, bringing the benchmark rate down to 4.75% from a peak of 6.25%. GDP growth accelerated to 5.6% year-on-year in the first quarter of 2026 compared with 5.4% growth in the fourth quarter of last year, with private consumption growth rising to 5.5% from 5.1%.

In the first four months of 2026, the local vehicle market expanded by over 12.5% to 289,787 units from weak year-earlier sales of 257,647 units, with sales of light passenger vehicles rising by 5% to 215,260 units, while commercial vehicle sales surged by 39% to 74,527 units. BEV sales more than doubled to over 52,500 units in this period, to account for over 18% of total vehicle sales in the country, with a rising number of Chinese brands operating in this segment.

Toyota continued to lead the market in the first four months of the year, with sales rising by 1.5% to 86,270 units, while Daihatsu sales increased by 10% to 48,280 units after falling sharply last year. Mitsubishi reported a 14% sales increase to 24,279 units, while Suzuki’s sales surged by 32% to 24,154 units.

BYD’s sales jumped by 86% to 17,098 units in the four-month period, while its Denza brand saw its sales fall by 36% to 2,149 units. Chery’s sales surged by 168% to 16,579 units, thanks to a strong performance by its newly-launched Jaecco brand, while Honda’s sales plunged by 37% to 15,893 units.

Overall vehicle production in the country rose by 9.5% to 403,815 units year-to-date, while exports of fully assembled vehicles rose by over 10% to 159,662 units.

GlobalData forecasts a slight fall in light vehicles in Indonesia in 2026 to 747,000 units, from 750,000 units in 2025, followed by s slight increase to 752,000 units in 2027.