Fashion
Toyota Motor Manufacturing Indonesia, the local unit of the Japanese automotive giant, aims to expand its export market by shipping its all-new Rush sport utility vehicle to 53 countries in Asia and Africa this year.
Toyota currently only exports vehicles to the Philippines, but it believes the model, updated early this year, would appeal to a broader market.
“The Toyota Rush is indeed one product aimed at export. Where previously we only exported it to one other country, this new model will be delivered to 53 countries,” Henry Tanoto, deputy director of Toyota Astra Motor, a joint venture between Toyota Motor Manufacturing Indonesia and the country’s largest car distributor, Astra International, said on Tuesday (24/07).
The Toyota Rush still leads in Indonesia’s so-called low SUV market segment, with data compiled by the Association of Indonesian Automobile Industries (Gaikindo) showing that 19,508 units were sold in the first semester of 2018, up 69 percent from the same period a year ago.
Japanese manufacturers have long sought to establish Indonesia as an export hub in the Asia-Pacific region.
Toyota has pledged $1.9 billion to expand its manufacturing capacity in Indonesia between 2015 and 2019.
Exports of Indonesian-made completely built-up cars has risen more than 14 percent over the past three years to 231,000 last year. The country exported 110,135 completely built-up cars between January and June, according to Gaikindo data.
