Bye Tesla! Honda Ready To Develop Electric Cars In Indonesia

JAKARTA - The government, through the Ministry of Industry, said that the car manufacturer Honda Motor Company Ltd expressed interest in developing electric vehicles in Indonesia.

Minister of Industry (Menperin) Agus Gumiwang Kartasasmita said the interest was conveyed by Honda when he made a two-day official visit to Japan on March 10-11.

"Honda is committed to developing electric cars in the country," he said as quoted from the official website Friday, March 12.

The Minister of Industry added that the intention of this world-class car manufacturer coincided with the assurance that Honda would immediately relocate its production facilities from India to Indonesia.

"The meeting with Honda principals yielded results with an investment commitment of IDR 5.2 trillion," he said.

"Honda's investment includes the development of a new model of vehicle. They also have plans to expand the export development of vehicle components produced in Indonesia as part of the global supply chain for nine countries, including Malaysia, Vietnam, Thailand, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Japan itself, "continued the Minister of Industry.

For information, Honda will open export markets for new export destinations such as South Africa, Mexico, North America and South America.

"They are developing a new model of motorized vehicle which will be produced in Indonesia and will be exported to 31 countries," he said.

In addition to Honda, Minister Agus also brought commitments from various other Japanese car manufacturers, such as Suzuki Motor Corporation, which plans to invest IDR 1.2 trillion. Then, Toyota Motor Corporation realized the existing investment, which was around Rp. 28 trillion, and Mitsubishi Motors Corporation submitted an investment plan of Rp. 11.2 trillion.

"The meeting went well and brought good news, because several large automotive and petrochemical companies expressed their commitment to invest in Indonesia," he said.

To note, the government is currently actively engaging foreign investors to invest their capital in Indonesia. Most recently, the world famous electric car manufacturer Tesla expressed a serious interest in including Indonesia in the supply chain for battery manufacturing.

Recently, the company owned by Elon R. Musk is known to have chosen India as a production base for sales in Asia as well as the first outside the United States.