PT Honda Prospect Motor (HPM), a joint venture between Japan’s third-largest automaker, Honda Motor Co., and Indonesia’s Prospect Motor, launched on Wednesday a second factory in Karawang, West Java, to meet the growing demand from Indonesian customers. “For Honda, Indonesia is one of its biggest growing markets. L
PT Honda Prospect Motor (HPM), a joint venture between Japan's third-largest automaker, Honda Motor Co., and Indonesia's Prospect Motor, launched on Wednesday a second factory in Karawang, West Java, to meet the growing demand from Indonesian customers.
“For Honda, Indonesia is one of its biggest growing markets. Last year, Indonesia was top among ASEAN countries,” Honda Motor Co. president Takanobu Ito said in his opening remarks at Wednesday's inauguration ceremony.
The new plant was part of the firm's efforts to achieve its sales target of 300,000 cars in 2016, and to produce high quality products for the Indonesian market, he said. HPM president director Tomoki Uchida said the new plant, which occupies 145,760 square meters of land, would boost the company's annual production capacity from 80,000 to 200,000 cars.
“It will also be the first plant in the world to produce our latest product, the Honda Mobilio,” he said, adding that the Mobilio was the first Honda vehicle in the low multi-purpose vehicle (LMPV) segment in the country.
Last year, when sales across almost all car segments dropped due to the rise in interest rates and the weakening of the rupiah, the LMPV and low-cost green car (LCGC) segments were the only two that grew.
Jonfis estimated that, last year, the LMPV and LCGC segments grew by around 70% and 30%, respectively.