Gaikindo: Electric Vehicles Take Time To Exist

GIIAS 2023 will be held on August 10-20, 2023. (Photo: Bagus Muhammad Hafizh / VOI)

JAKARTA - Providing subsidies for electric vehicles is one of the positive steps for the government to form a green ecosystem. However, according to the General Chairperson of the Indonesian Automotive Industry Association (Gaikindo), Yohannes Nangoi said it would take a long time for electric vehicles to exist in Indonesia.

"If this is electric, this is new. Hydrogen technology, if subsidized, also does not necessarily sell well in Indonesia, the situation is different from conventional ones. Even so, this step is correct with the government giving subsidies, and infrastructure also needs to be improved and education is also important to the community through this auto show," said Yohannes Nangoi in Jakarta, Wednesday, May 24.

This subsidy for electric vehicles is indeed a different case with what Gaikindo conveyed to the government some time ago, when Indonesia was hit by COVID-19.

Gaikindo coordinated with the government to restore the automotive industry situation at that time, by providing a tax cut on luxury goods or PPNBM to vehicles that already exist in Indonesia. Thus, the acceptance and welcome from consumers is much more aggressive.

"This incentive is for tax reduction, with the hope that tax reduced sales will increase. If the goods given are goods that exist in Indonesia, it will definitely run," he said, quoted by ANTARA, Wednesday, May 24.

He also gave an example in 2022 during the pandemic, where Gaikindo discussed with the government. Then in January 2021, finally came out whose name was the PPNBM subsidy and those who got it were vehicles that had been sold in Indonesia. And direct sales are high," he said.

For this reason, Gaikindo does not remain silent in helping to fertilize the green vehicle ecosystem in Indonesia. Nangoi said that his party would continue to coordinate with its members to continue to provide education to the public regarding electric vehicles.

"We ask our members to be active in the promotion of electric vehicles, like last year there was a special place for electric vehicle tests, while we educate the public. So we give priority to producers who have electric vehicles," he concluded.