Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia – President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) pays special attention to the automotive industry. This can be seen when visiting several cars at the 2021 Gaikindo Indonesia International Auto Show (GIIAS) at ICE BSD, Wednesday (17/11/21). He spent almost 3 hours touring the event.
The car that caught Jokowi’s attention when he first arrived was the All New Toyota Avanza. He immediately visited the Toyota booth in Hall 1, not just looking around, the former Governor of DKI Jakarta also entered the cabin and tried various features of the car that was just released last week.
Jokowi was seen trying to steer the car of a million people while receiving an explanation from Toyota officials, accompanying him in the line including Marketing Director of PT Toyota Astra Motor (TAM) Anton Jimmi Suwandy.
Switching from Toyota, Jokowi immediately visited the booth in front of him, namely Honda. He tried last year’s best-selling car, the red Honda Brio. This hatchback has indeed recorded a record beating the sales of the Toyota Avanza which for the past years has become the best-selling car.
Not satisfied, Jokowi toured various corners of the exhibition. Another car that stole his attention was the Nissan Leaf, an electric car that just launched in mid-August. Jokowi also monitors the process of charging electrical energy into it. This car is priced at Rp. 649 million.
In addition, Jokowi also visited the Hyundai booth. This South Korean automotive manufacturer has only invested up to Rp 21 trillion. It is not wrong if the head of state participates in monitoring the production of cars from this manufacturer, one of which is the Hyundai Creta. This car will be the type of car produced locally at Hyundai’s first factory in Southeast Asia, namely Indonesia.
Turning back to the Japanese manufacturer, Jokowi also tried the Mitsubishi Xpander directly. This car has become the main rival of the Toyota Avanza in capturing the Low-SUV market in Indonesia, especially since its release in 2018.
This year, Mitsubishi also just released the New Xpander last week. Various new features and variants are embedded, one of which is Electric Parking Brake and Brake Auto Hold which is a brake feature without pulling the lever.
Jokowi also appears to enter the cabin and see the inside of the New Xpander. He was in the cabin for a few minutes and received an explanation from several Mitsubishi officials and the Chairman of Gaikindo Yohannes Nangoi. The New Xpander is predicted to be the ‘destroyer’ of the Avanza in the Lov MPV class.
Jokowi claimed to have held meetings with various bosses or executives of automotive companies in Indonesia. At that meeting, there were a number of talks that took place.
“Earlier, I met with the CEOs (boss of automotive companies) and I conveyed what is our concern, and what we must do together for the future,” Jokowi said during a doorstop session, quoted Friday (11/19/2020). 21).
(Ferry Sandi / hoi)
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