Automotive sales drops 27%

New car sales dropped 27% last month on long Lebaran holidays. Toyota maintained its domination in the market.

Car sales for September reached 35,000 - 36,000 units, where Toyota sold 14,400 cars, declined 21.7% from the previous month. Overall, according to Gaikindo statistics, car market declined 28% to 335,334 units for the first nine months of 2009. The automotive business association predicts a 22% to 24% market decline this year. 

Overall, Toyota controlled 38.4% market share in Jan-Aug 2009 with 115,187 units, followed by Daihatsu (47,583 units), Mitsubishi (37,200), Suzuki (28725), and Honda (23,426).

Meanwhile, motorcycle sales dropped 30% last month, also due to the long holidays. Motorcycle sales reached its record high of 626,478 units in August, even higher than August 2008. Total motorcycle sales in Jan-Aug 2009 is 3.718 million units, closer to the industry's target of 5 million units this year.

Astra International is the biggest player in both cars (Toyota, Daihatsu etc) and motorcycles (Honda). Astra's stock price has surged 210% this year to Rp32800.

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