EPISODE 4: THE THING ABOUT EVERYTHING

EVERYTHING TOGETHER 

CHEVROLET INDONESIA

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EPISODE 3: MY CAR, MY MOBILE

EVERYTHING TOGETHER 

CHEVROLET INDONESIA

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EVERYTHING TOGETHER: 

CHEVROLET INDONESIA

Chevrolet Indonesia has recently launched a series of online drama shows via its website. Produced on three beautiful islands in Indonesia, the story surrounds a family and the importance of togetherness, despite busy schedules. 

The film also tells about how a family atmosphere and the spirit of togetherness can be created by family drives taken together. 

The online videos are aimed at sharing and connecting Indonesians with what they like, being drama, family and the Internet. 

Episode 1 has since been launched, with Episode 2 currently being aired, and the other 2 episodes on their way. 

Watch Here.

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 Dragonito is Awarded as The King Yaris Show Off 2012

This champion has spent Rp 500 million budget to transform his Toyota Yaris to be the King.

Carmall.com - Because of the work Signal Kustom Built to make the most different in variety of modifications and being original, Dragonito is awarded as The King Yaris Show Off 2012, Sunday (9/9) in Pondok Indah Mall 2, Jakarta.

In the modification Dragonito holds the theme of The Yellow Dino. Yudi Andhika is trusted to work on the exterior parts of the car. Meanwhile for the painting is trusted to Fahmi Free low from Bandung. And the 'mastermind' from the concept of this car's modification is Andre Mulyadi.

With the variety of 20 colors in the exterior and multimedia technology, gadget and audio in the cabin sector, has made Toyota Yaris Dragonito succeeded to beat other four finalist as the winner of Yaris Show Off 2012 from the region of Medan, Bali, Makassar, and Surabaya.

A magnificent concept on the car has succeeded to bring Dragonito as the King Yaris Show Off 2012 and deserves 1 unit Toyota Yaris J M/T as prize. Dragonito also has the opportunity to visit Tokyo Auto Saloon in Japan.

That achievement is worth their struggle in following this event. It is recorded that since 2008, Dragonito is only at their year 5 in following this kind of national event when awarded as The King. 

Not only their high spirit, but the cost is not cheap. Dragonito spent about Rp 500 million to turn his Yaris to be The King Yaris of all Indonesia.

Yaris Show Off 2012 eventheld in Jakarta from 7-9 September 2012 is the last regional competition before entering the grand show, which is Yaris Show Off 2012 Final Battle.

With the theme of Fungressive or Sporty and Trendsetter Attitude, this event is separated into some category of valuation. They are the quality of working aspect, design-aesthetics, product condition in the area (exterior, wheels, multimedia, gadget-audio, interior and also engine). For others, the valuation also based on overall sector in a working condition, drive properly and safety factor which is properly working as a daily car. Congrats Dragonito! (Putri)

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Show Your Guts

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Twitter Launches Advertising Products In Indonesia

Twitter launched its advertising products in Indonesia on Wednesday, having announced apartnership with Komli Media to deliver Twitter ads to Southeast Asia back in November last year. The ad products which comprise of promoted tweets, promoted trends, and promoted accounts, will now be available to Indonesian companies wishing to increase exposure and brand participation among the highly active and engaging consumers on Twitter.

The promoted products are delivered through Twitter’s own channels which the company has been working hard to optimize to accommodate its monetization strategy. These include the main website, the mobile website, Twitter owned TweetDeck, and Twitter’s own mobile apps as well 

as a select number of third party apps including HootSuite.

In announcing the products’ availability, Indonesia’s largest mobile carrier Telkomsel was revealed to be the inaugural Indonesian client which will be delivering advertising through Twitter. While Telkomsel has been very active in engaging influential individuals on Twitter to help promote its mobile products over the last couple of years, it wants to gauge the effectiveness of Twitter’s native advertising feature.

Twitter’s vice president of International revenue Sailesh Rao spoke at the launch. He said that Southeast Asia had been one of Twitter’s fastest growing regions and Indonesians are among the top five most active Twitter users in the world, which is why the company decided to expand its advertising efforts in the country.

Matt Sutton, senior director at Komli Southeast Asia said that Indonesia is the fastest in adopting and expanding digital marketing initiatives in the region with an estimated value of $60 million out of $300 million projected for the region with 40% growth year on year.

Telkomsel’s head of digital, Kemas M. Fadhli admitted to DailySocial that it’s taken Twitter quite a while to get to Indonesia despite the significant Twitter activity in the last few years. He expected Twitter to enter the market much earlier since the promoted products had been launched back in 2010.

In the meantime, hiring influential people on Twitter had become a staple in the company’s digital promotion efforts. When asked if the official advertising channel on Twitter will affect Telkomsel’s relationship with influencers or buzz agents, Fadhli said that there will be some adjustments but he sees the two methods as having different objectives.

According to Fadhli, Twitter’s promoted products do not create the kinds of conversations that can be generated through buzz agents. The ads are designed to inform and create awareness to those who are already interested in the kinds of products that Telkomsel offers whereas buzz agents can create conversations, deliver feedbacks, and spread the information and promotions in a more organic way.

The personal endorsement factor through buzz agents is something that ads generally do not have but Telkomsel is certainly open to the opportunities that native Twitter ads may bring to the table.

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Dahlan rams local sports car into mountain slope (Tuxuci Car)

Dahlan rams local sports car into mountain slope

Kusumasari Ayuningtyas, Wahyoe Boediwardhana, The Jakarta Post, Surakarta/Magetan | National | Sat, January 05 2013, 7:08 PM

State-Owned Enterprises Minister Dahlan Iskan (center) prays beside a national electric sports car called Tuxuci during a Javanese cleansing ritual (ruwatan), said to eliminate bad luck, suffering and disaster, in Surakarta, Central Java, on Saturday. Despite the ritual, the car was totaled in an accident caused by faulty brakes in Sarangan, Magetan, East Java, at 3 p.m. Dahlan, who drove the car, emerged unscathed from the accident. (JP/Kusumasari Ayuningtyas)

Just a few hours after a Javanese cleansing ritual called ruwatan, locally manufactured electric car Tuxuci, driven by State-Owned Enterprises Minister Dahlan Iskan, plowed into the slope of Mount Lawu in East Java during a test drive on Saturday.

Dahlan and his co-driver, auto mechanic Ricky Elson, came out unscathed, but the car was totaled in the incident at around 3 p.m.

A ministry statement said the car, which is Ferrari red, experienced faulty brakes when speeding down the mountain.

Dahlan, who drove the sports car worth Rp 1.5 billion (US$155,440) from Surakarta, Central Java, to Magetan, veered into the mountainside when the brakes suddenly failed.

“If I didn’t swerve into the slope, the car would have run faster and could have damaged other vehicles,” said Dahlan.

The car did not come to a complete stop after hitting the mountainside and went on to bump into a utility pole. It stopped right in front of another car.

While Dahlan escaped unharmed, the car was totaled, which forced the minister to continue the trip to his hometown in Takeran district, Magetan, in another car.

Despite the accident, Dahlan said he was still proud of the Yogyakarta-manufactured car.

A few hours before the accident, the car underwent the ruwatan ritual in Surakarta. Renowned puppeteer Ki Manteb Soedharsono led the ceremony, believed to dispel misfortune, suffering and disaster.

The Tuxuci was designed by five local auto engineers. Dahlan said the research and production of the car prototype cost Rp 3 billion. Dahlan said the electric car could be the solution to reduce dependence on fossil fuels. (han/lfr)

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KRAS, Japanese company to make automotive steel

Tassia Sipahutar, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Business | Fri, December 28 2012, 11:39 AM

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Paper Edition | Page: 13

The country’s largest steel maker PT Krakatau Steel (KRAS) and its Japanese partner will set up a new factory to produce cold-rolled coil (CRC) and galvanized CRC to meet the steel demand from the country’s fast-growing automotive industry.

KRAS and Japanese partner Nippon Steel and Sumitomo Metal Corporation (NSSMC) signed an agreement on Wednesday to set up a joint venture to run the steel factory, which will be built with investment of US$378 million.

KRAS will have a 49 percent stake in the joint venture, while NSSMC will control the remaining 51 percent. The new company will built its factory in KRAS’ industrial estate in Cilegon, Banten. It will produce and sell CRC and galvanized CRC for the domestic automotive industry.

In the automotive sector, CRC and galvanized CRC are used to produce a variety of automobile parts, such as body panels. Automotive manufacturing in Indonesia has developed rapidly in recent years thanks to steady increases in car sales in the country. The Indonesian Automotive Industry Association (Gaikindo) expects that the number of new cars sold will top 1 million for the first time this year.

“The new joint venture will enable Krakatau Steel to increase its competitiveness in galvanized technology and to provide raw materials for the domestic automotive industry,” Krakatau Steel president director Irvan K. Hakim said.

From January to September, publicly listed KRAS sold a total of 385,795 tons of CRC, a 42.4 percent increase from the same period last year. The products mainly went to the construction sector, according to the company’s financial statement. Sales of CRC accounted for 22.3 percent of KRAS’ total sales volume in the first nine months of the year. During the period, sales were dominated by hot-rolled coil (HRC) products at 49.1 percent.

Tokyo-based NSSMC, a merger between Nippon Steel Corporation and Sumitomo Metal Industries Ltd., manufactures and processes iron and steel products in Africa, Asia, Central America, Europe, the Middle East, North America and South America. Its annual production capacity currently stands at around 50 million tons of
crude steel.

Both companies will discuss detailed terms and conditions of the joint venture in the first half of 2013, with the aim of entering into a definitive agreement, NSSMC wrote in a statement published on its website.

Besides partnering with NSSMC, KRAS also signed a joint venture agreement on Wednesday with Osaka Steel Corporation (OSC), a subsidiary of NSSMC, to establish PT Krakatau Osaka Steel. Krakatau Osaka Steel, whose investment value stands at $216 million, will produce steel beams and long products for the domestic construction industry.

KRAS will own a 49 percent stake in the joint venture, while OSC will hold a 51 percent share, with an option for both companies to increase their ownership in the future. Similar to Krakatau Nippon Steel Sumikin, Krakatau Osaka Steel will also be located in KRAS’ industrial estate in Cilegon.

At the moment, OSC manufactures steel billets, steel beams and long products, with a total production capacity of 950,000 tons per year. According to Irvan, the joint venture will help KRAS strengthen its position in Indonesia’s long-products market. KRAS corporate secretary Andi Firdaus said KRAS would use its own funds to finance both joint ventures.

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Nissan Announces Plans to Introduce New Datsun as a Low-Cost Green Car

Nissan has announced plans to introduce the new Datsun as a Low-Cost Green Car (LCGC) in Indonesia. According to the Japanese automaker, the new model will be introduced in 2014 after Nissan’s new plant in Purwakarta ready to operate. The new Datsun, however, will go into the LCGC segment in Indonesian market.

Nissan confirmed that the new Datsun is not a cheap product, though this new model will come as a LCGC vehicle. Japanese automaker also confirmed that the Indonesian people are very clever in choosing a new product and does not want to have a cheap car.

Meanwhile, the 2014 model year will begin production after the new Nissan plant in Purwakarta is ready to operate. Nissan Motor Indonesia reported that their new plant in Purwakarta (second plant) will begin operation in late 2013 and is targeted to produce more than 100,000 units per year.

Kintaro Izumida, President Director of PT Nissan Motor Indonesia said, “We’re ready to welcome and have prepared the LCGC vehicles. Datsun is a variant that will be introduced as a LCGC. The new Datsun will be introduced in 2014, after our new plant in Purwakarta is ready”, said Kintaro Izumida.

He added, “But the Datsun is not a cheap car because it’s very easy to make a cheap car. Could be without a seat, could be without an air conditioner. I think the Indonesian people are very smart. Indonesian people don’t want to have a cheap car but want to get a good car at attractive prices”, Kintaro Izumida said in an official statement on Thursday in Purwakarta

Read more: http://www.thecardriving.com/read/2299/nissan-announces-plans-to-introduce-new-datsun-as-a-low-cost-green-car/#ixzz2Ei7t41Jr

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Car wash businesses reap millions as car sales rise

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Jakarta | Sat, November 24 2012, 10:47 AM

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Paper Edition | Page: 9

It’s raining money: A man washes a car at a car wash in Permata Hijau, South Jakarta. The rainy season sees more customers having their cars washed at such businesses by paying Rp 12,000 to Rp 75,000, depending on the service. (JP/R. Berto Wedhatama)

The rainy season might make Jakarta motorists sigh over gridlock on inundated roads and grime-coated cars after pouring rain. For car wash businesses in the capital, however, the season is a gold mine that keeps rainy days at bay.

Crusted soil and dirt drives more customers through their doors, and more dough into their pockets.

Rochman Iroyo, who owns an automated car wash on Jl. Pramuka in East Jakarta, said that his business saw 150-250 customers lined-up to get dirt cleaned off their cars a day after the rain. During a bright, sunny day, he sees between 100-150 daily visitors.

Ross, who owns an eponymously named 24-hour car wash in Cempaka Putih in Central Jakarta, echoed Rochman. She said her business saw 120-150 cars drive through her gate after downpour. She added that normally, she only had around 100 customers daily.

Downpour might double their profit, but car wash businessmen say that with or without rain, getting dirt off Jakartans’ vehicles is a lucrative business.

The reasons are simple, they say. With the nation’s stable economic growth, more and more Jakartans are able to purchase cars. Hectic lifestyles, however, inhibit them from washing their cars themselves. As a result, many car owners are attracted to car washes for their ability to clean their cars fast and efficiently.

The Indonesian Automotive Industry Association (Gaikindo) earlier this month revealed that car sales nationwide between January and October sat at 923,132 units, toppling 2011 annual sales at 894.164 units. Jakarta Police data also shows that the numbers of vehicles on the road has been rising by 11.26 percent every year.

Rochman, for instance, said that he was inspired to establish his business in 2004 after seeing how a car wash business he frequently dropped by was never seen sparsely visited. “There are more and more cars in Jakarta every year,” he thought to himself. “Moreover, Jakarta’s urban people love to show off their fancy look with clean and shiny cars and I won’t have to worry about a drought in customers. This might score me a great business.”

Rochman then decided to spend up to Rp 1.5 billion (US$155,763)to establish his own business, including buying an automated, drive through car wash machine.

The business is a proven money maker, as the man could reap Rp 4.5 million to Rp 11.25 million gross a day, depending on rain or shine. He charges his visitors Rp 45,000 for a wash.

Rochman refused to disclose how much he spends to operate daily, simply adding that the profit “is more than enough to pay my 30 workers and cover all the bills”.

Establishing the fat business, however, does not always require a hefty bank account or sophisticated equipment.

Ross, for instance, started her business in her yard with rubber tubes, buckets, sponges, polishing wax and car shampoos back in 1997. Now in 2012, only two vacuum cleaners used to clean car interiors have been added to her equipment stock.

Ross said the business was unintended. She leased her yard as a taxi pool back then, and washed some of the cabs by request.

“Many private cars passing stopped and asked to have their cars washed too,” she said.

That was when she decided to open a car wash service and hired her neighbors as employees.

She can now garner a minimum of Rp 1.3 million daily by charging Rp 13,000 for a service and spends only Rp 2 million for equity bills, Rp 300,000 for polish wax monthly and Rp 60,000 daily for car-shampoos.

The rewarding business, Rochman and Ross say, of course attracts more people to profit from it. Rochman said there were only around 10 automated car wash businesses when he first established his business, but he now had around 30 competitors running similar services.

Ross, on the other hand, said that she was the first to run a car wash business in the area before her neighbors started to follow suit. “Now there are seven,” she said.

Rochman and Ross, however, said that there is not much to worry about. “There are more and more cars in the capital and never enough car washes. Customers also have their own preference on where they like to get their cars washed,” he said.

Arum, 26, said that she preferred an automated car wash as it offered her faster service compared to other car washes. “It’s okay to pay more as long as it quick,” she said. Rahma, 26, a resident of Pejaten, South Jakarta, said that she loved to have her car washed near her house not only for the short distance, but also for the services it offer.

“They offer customers free drinks while waiting. They also cleanse my car’s pit,” Rahma explained.

While Erik, 30, said he always has his car cleansed and rinsed at Ross’s car wash as he always passed it on his way from work on Jl. Gatot Subroto, South Jakarta.

Location plays an imminent role in determining whether the business will succeed or fail, Rochman says.

“Choose a location that is passed by people coming home from work. Don’t worry if you have to spend a lot of money on rent because soon enough, the money will come back to you,” he said. (aml)

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Toyota plans Rp 13t investment in Indonesia

Linda Yulisman, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Business | Mon, November 12 2012, 10:09 AM

Japan’s top automaker Toyota Motor Corporation (TMC) has re-affirmed its commitment to Indonesia, saying it will invest up to Rp 13 trillion (US$1.35 billion) in the next five years for a number of expansion activities in Southeast Asia’s largest automobile market. 

The largest amount of the investment will be used to more than double its production capacity and build a new engine factory to meet the fast-surging vehicle demand in the country of 240 million inhabitants. The sizeable investment will be spent to enhance the capacity of its first Karawang plant in West Java, to 130,000 units per year beginning September next year, from the present 110,000. 

Toyota will also upgrade the capacity of its second Karawang plant, which is currently under construction, to 120,000 units by early 2014 from 70,000 units upon initial operations by March next year. 

The two plants, to be operated by Toyota Motor Manufacturing Indonesia (TMMIN), its joint venture with Indonesia’s Astra International, will have a combined production capacity of 250,000 units by early 2014, the firm said in a statement. It means Toyota will double the capacity from the current 110,000 to 250,000 by 2014.

In line with the higher capacity, it will also increase its employment to around 41,000 workers in 2015 from roughly 32,000 workers at present, it said. 

TMC president Akio Toyoda said on Saturday that this additional investment reaffirmed the group’s commitment to Indonesia’s prospective automotive industry.

“We’re glad to see the response from the Indonesian people and the government toward the achievement of Toyota in the past 40 years,” he said during a press conference in Jakarta. 

Earlier in the day, Toyoda, who came along with executives of TMC and its related companies, met President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who requested the firm’s support for the government’s move to develop low-cost and eco-friendly vehicles. 

The multi-year investment of Rp 13 trillion planned by Toyota will also cover, among others, the expansion of Toyota Auto Body Corporation Ltd, which aims to create new models of vehicles for the Indonesian market, and Denso Corporation, which will build its third factory in Bekasi, West Java, to make high-technology components such as engine control units for local sales as well as exports, according to the firm’s statement. 

Johnny Darmawan, TMMIN vice president and president director of Toyota Astra Motor (TAM), which tackles distribution and after-sale service for TMMIN cars, said that Toyota was currently finalizing the purchase of land totaling 150 hectares in Karawang, where a new engine factory was planned. 

Apart from the Rp 13 trillion investment that had been approved, Toyota would likely pour another Rp 13 trillion to anticipate the fast-expanding automarket in Indonesia until 2020, Johnny said, but declined to elaborate details. 

“The planned investment of Rp 13 trillion, and the Rp 13 trillion that will be soon realized, will be equal to Toyota’s overall investment for 40 years,” he told The Jakarta Post over the phone.

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Future of Nokia hangs on Windows Phone 8 rollout

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Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer gives his presentation at the launch of Microsoft Windows 8, in New York, Thursday, Oct. 25, 2012. Windows 8 is the most dramatic overhaul of the personal computer market's dominant operating system in 17 years. (AP/Richard Drew)

For Nokia, it comes down to this: Is Microsoft's new phone software going to get it back in the smartphone race, or is it going to be too late?

After being the top seller of cellphones in the world for 14 years, Nokia failed to meet the challenge when Apple in 2007 introduced the dazzling iPhone that caught the imagination of design-conscious customers and rattled mobile markets.

The Finnish company hit a downward spiral that has led to shrinking sales and market share, plant closures, thousands of layoffs and downgrades by credit agencies to junk status.

On Friday, research firm IDC said that in the July-to-September period, Nokia slid for the first time off the list of the top five smartphone makers in the world. It's still the second-largest maker of phones overall, but sales of non-smartphones are shrinking across the industry, and there's little profit there.

The ailing company's CEO, Stephen Elop, sees Microsoft's new Windows Phone 8 software as a chance to reverse that trend, describing it as a catalyst for the new models.

On Monday, Microsoft Corp. is hosting a big launch event for the software at an arena in San Francisco. The first phones from Nokia, Samsung and HTC are expected to hit store shelves next month.

The launch of Windows Phone 8 follows on the heels of Windows 8 for PCs and tablets, which Microsoft released Friday. That operating system has borrowed its look from Windows Phone, meaning Microsoft now has a unified look across PCs and phones — at least if people take to Windows 8. The company has also made it easy for developers to create software that runs on both platforms with minor modifications.

Analysts are calling this a make-or-break moment for Nokia.

"Nokia is placing a huge bet on Microsoft and if the gamble doesn't pay off, the losses can be high," said Neil Mawston from Strategy Analytics, near London. "It's putting all its eggs in one basket and that's quite a high-risk strategy."

In February last year, Nokia announced it was teaming up with Microsoft to replace its old Symbian and next-generation MeeGo software platforms with Windows. This move was made in the hope that it would rejuvenate the company and claw back lost ground.

Eight months later, they produced the first Nokia Windows Phone. Consumers didn't warm to it, and it soon became clear that these phones, based on Windows Phone 7, were going to become obsolete. They can't be upgraded to Windows Phone 8. Lumia sales slumped to 2.9 million units in the third quarter after reaching 4 million in the previous three months.

"Retailers withdrew marketing and promotion because no one wants to sell customers a device that ages in a few months," says Michael Schroeder, analyst at FIM Bank Ltd. in Helsinki.

"Had there been a seamless transfer to Windows 8 from the old (Lumia) devices, sales figures would have been much higher last quarter."

Mawston gives Nokia until April to prove it's still in the race.

"If Nokia does not have more than 5 percent of the global smartphone market by the end of the first quarter 2013, alarm bells will be ringing," Mawston said.

Analysts estimate Nokia's current global smartphone market share to be some 4 percent — down from 14 percent a year ago. Meanwhile, uncertainty clouds its new venture with Microsoft.

"We're a bit in the dark here," Schroeder said. "Right now we can't really say anything about Nokia's future. Everything depends on how the new devices are received in the market."

Nokia says its Lumia 920 and 820 phones are just the beginning of a new range of Windows Phone 8 devices, but early evaluations suggest they lack the "wow" effect necessary to make a dent in the smartphone market.

Also, Windows Phone 8 lags behind in the number of third-party applications available. There are some 100,000 available. Google's and Apple's stores have six or seven times as many.

"It's a perception thing really," Mawston of Strategy Analytics said. "Like in supermarket wars, if you have a store with lots of shelves with lots of apps, then consumers will choose you over a smaller store that has a smaller offering — even if you can't use all those apps."

Analysts expect 700 million smartphones to be sold worldwide this year. While network operators and retailers may welcome a third software system to challenge the dominance of Apple's iOS and Google's Android, it is the consumer who will ultimately decide Nokia's and Windows Phone 8's fate.

Beside the smartphone challenge, Nokia is feeling the pinch in the lower end with manufacturers in China and in Asia producing cut-rate non-smartphones — Nokia's former domain. Earlier this year, Samsung overtook it as the world's No. 1 mobile phone vendor, ending Nokia's reign that peaked in 2008 with a 40 percent market share.

"Dumb" phones continue to be the backbone of Nokia operations, including in India where it's a top seller. With strong and extensive distribution networks and a brand well-known in emerging markets, all might not be lost for the company that grew from making paper and rubber boots to being the biggest manufacturer of cellphones.

Mawston says that in theory, Nokia and Microsoft have a good chance of success as they offer an across-the-board system that stretches across home computers, mobiles, laptops, tablets as well as in the office, backed by Nokia's strong distribution and hardware and Microsoft's multi-platform software.

"If they can exploit that underlying market platform ... and tie it all together in a good hardware portfolio, then potentially Microsoft and Nokia could be a very, very strong partnership — a bit like bringing together Batman and Robin," Mawston said. "But, in practice, whether they can execute on that reality still is a great unknown and remains to be seen."

Matti Huuhtanen, Associated Press, Helsinki | Sci-Tech | Sun, October 28 2012, 9:03 PM

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Indonesia: Toyota-Daihatsu Launches Cheap Car Agya-Ayla

Toyota and Daihatsu has finally unveiled the product of their collaboration in the form of cheap cars environmentally friendly. According to President Director of PT Astra International Tbk, Prijono Sugiarto, two products are Agya Toyota Astra and Astra Daihatsu Ayla. "The two products is a pride for us as a part of the name Astra car," said Prijono in Jakarta.

Prijono said the launch of two new environmentally friendly low-cost car (LCGC) was a response to the government's desire that manufacturers produce cars that cheap, but still environmentally friendly. He said Toyota Astra and Astra Daihatsu Agya Ayla is a product that will be sold at affordable prices and efficient in fuel consumption. "So, there are four manufacturers who have agreed to develop LCGC, including us, were planned by the government since 2009," he said.

According to Prijono, the Indonesian automotive market is very potential given the number of middle class reaches 40 million people. In fact, the number of middle class in Indonesia is predicted to increase to 90 million in 2030. "With an average GDP growth of 6 percent, the figure is very phenomenal and the best in Asean," he said.

The number of vehicles penetration in Indonesia is very low, at 1:20 or 1 car used by 20 people. That figure is still far behind Malaysia in the ratio 1:3 or 1:4 South Korea. "Car prices in Indonesia have not been reached, so it is obvious Agya and Ayla will drive penetration vehicle," he said.

Meanwhile, spokesman of PT Astra Daihatsu Motor Amelia Tjandra, said Ayla and Agya will be sold at an affordable price. Although the selling price is not yet fixed, he provides an estimate of the selling price of the car. "The range costs about Rp 75 million to Rp 105 million, so it's really cheap," he said.

Fuel consumption is very economical. Astra Daihatsu Ayla is claimed to consume fuel at a ratio of 1:30. "So it's very economical," he said.

Source: Tempo.com

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CONSUMERS IN ASIA- PACIFIC MORE RESPONSIVE TO SOCIAL ENDORSEMENTS

By eMarketer on July 16, 2012

Rising social media influence in Asia-Pacific could bolster brands’ online presence and sales

In emerging Asia-Pacific markets, social networks are widely popular among internet users. Moreover, compared to developed markets, they are also considered more influential for consumers making brand decisions.  The March “Socialogue” study by global research firm Ipsos revealed that 54% of internet users in China said they would buy a brand because a friend “liked” or followed it on a social network, almost twice the average for Asia-Pacific overall. (And significantly higher than the 15% of internet users in North America who said the same.) India and Indonesia followed China, at 44% and 39%, respectively.


This data indicates that a presence on social networks for brands in Asia-Pacific is essential for more than just exposure, but also sales, as more consumers warm up to online purchases. eMarketer estimates that users in China, India and Indonesia will spend an average of $489, $721 and $613, respectively, online in 2012.

Granted, eMarketer’s figures include travel purchases, which account for nearly 80% of online spending in India, for example. Still, as B2C websites in these markets improve delivery, security and payment options, the total discovery-to-purchase cycle is making a noticeable shift to online. While the value of “likes” and followers on social media in the West continues to be debated, the data indicates that for brands, being on social in Asia-Pacific is becoming essential.

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