Minister of Industry Warns of the Threat of Malaysia that Almost Overtakes the Sale of Indonesian Cars

JAKARTA - The Indonesia International Motor Show (IIMS) 2026 automotive exhibition officially took place from today, February 5, 2026 to February 15, 2026 at Jiexpo Kemayoran, Jakarta. Minister of Industry (Menperin) Agus Gumiwang Kartasasmita, revealed that he hopes that the automotive exhibition can boost sales this year.

"The pressure in the automotive industry is very heavy, but at the end of 2025 and early January 2026 it is beginning to show a rebound. This is supported by export performance and the acceleration of electrification vehicles," said Agus at the opening of IIMS 2026, Thursday, February 5.

However, according to him, the national automotive market is not yet fully solid, there are still a number of challenges, especially in terms of financing, global dynamics to the availability of supply chains.

"The projection of national car sales this year is 850,000 units out of a total production capacity of around 2.6 million units. This is a conservative figure and hopefully it can be achieved, even exceeding the target," he said.

Based on data from the Indonesian Motor Vehicle Industry Association (Gaikindo) reported by VOI, the total sales of cars from January to December 2025 reached 803,687 units (wholesales) and 833,702 units (retail). With these final results, Gaikindo's target for 2025 of 780 thousand official units was exceeded.

The note also closed the year which was previously colored by a revision of the projection, from 850-900 thousand units. On the other hand, Agus also highlighted Malaysia's achievement which began to give "threats" to Indonesia in terms of sales, according to him this is an alarm.

The Malaysian automotive industry throughout 2025 is surprising. The Malaysia Automotive Association (MAA) recorded car sales throughout 2025 reaching 820,752 units, up 0.5 percent compared to 2024 which reached 816,747 units. This achievement makes Malaysia two years in a row to penetrate the 800 thousand unit level, a new record in their automotive history.

"Automotive sales in Malaysia may have approached Indonesia or even passed it, this is an alert for us Indonesians," he said.

"Of course I want to invite stakeholders to be able to find or formulate the right steps and mitigation so that we can return to being a country with the highest automotive sales in ASEAN," concluded Agus.