BAIC Confirms BJ40 Will Be Built Locally In Early 2025, Prices Drop?

BAIC BJ40 di GIIAS 2024. (Photo: Bagus Muhammad Hafizh)

JAKARTA - Last July, Beijing Automotive Industries Corporation, called BAIC, confirmed its position in the Indonesian automotive market by investing through PT JHL International Automotive.

The company appointed PT Handal Indonesia Motor (HIM) as a local partner for assembly, which is planned to start in the first quarter of 2025.

BAIC Indonesia's Chief Operating Officer (COO) Dhani Yahya confirmed that his party would conduct local assembly with BJ40 as the first product to be built on a CKD basis.

"BJ40 is clear, the HIM is a manufacturer. We are trying to set up the line," said Dhani when met by reporters at Pantai Indah Kapuk 2, Jakarta, Tuesday, December 17,

He also said that his party had prepared various efforts to prepare local assembly lines, one of which was by sending technicians for training at the beginning of this year in the hope of starting assembly in March or April.

"In January, we will send technicians for training, in March, it is hoped that the assembly line will start," added Dhani.

Dhani also ensured that the local assembled version of the tadder-frame SUV would experience a decline in prices accordingly and ensured that local content would reach 40 percent so that it could be exported throughout Southeast Asia.

TKDN kami maksimkan 40 persen untuk bisa ekspor ke wilayah northeast asia. Setelahnya, kami coba tambah TKDN seperti brand lainnya," ucap Dhani.

Located in the new PT HIM facility located in Purwakarta, BAIC Indonesia will occupy a production line that is targeted to be able to produce 1,680 BAIC BJ40 Plus units by 2025.

This production will be followed by BJ30 and X55 II models in the second and third years, as well as production of battery-based electric vehicles (BEV) the following year. In the first five years, BAIC Indonesia targets production to reach 12,000 units per year.

In the early stages, PT JIO will assemble vehicles in the form of Semi Knock-Down (SKD), in which manufacturing will receive semi-finished vehicles from BAIC factories in China to be assembled into intact vehicles.

In the long term, PT JIO plans to assemble the BAIC vehicle in Full CKD (Completely Knocked Down) by using quality materials from within the country to comply with the Domestic Component Level (TKDN) regulations. In addition to the Indonesian market, PT JIO also plans to expand exports to the ASEAN automotive market.