JAKARTA. Premium cars sales are predicted to remain stagnant in this year. Chairman I of Indonesian Automotive Industry Association (Gaikindo) Jongkie D Sugiarto said, the premium car market depends on economic condition. The stronger economy, the higher premium cars sales. “But the problem is, the economy is predicted to grow only by 5%,” said Jongkie, Tuesday (10/1).

With the prediction of 5% economic growth, Jongkie estimates that the premium cars sales will remain the same with the last year. “Probably, the sales (of premium cars) may only increase by 4%-5%,” said Jongkie.

Learning from the results in 2016, Jongkie said that the premium cars sales tend to decrease. Data of Gaikindo show that the sales of premium car brand BMW dropped by 9% from 2,446 units as of November 2015 to 2,225 units in November 2016.

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However, Head of Corporate Communications of BMW Group Indonesia Jodie O’Tania said that the company recorded an increase in the sales of the high-end product, namely BMW 7 Series. “This year, we will focus on selling high-end products, such as BMW 7 Series,” Jodie said, Tuesday (10/1).

As of November 2016, the sales of BMW 7 Series have amounted to 70 units, or increased from only 16 units during the same period in the previous year.

Meanwhile, the sales of Mercedes Bens decreased by 4.7% to 3,363 units as of November 2016. Management Manager of Product Department of Mercedez Benz Indonesia Yudi Lesmana said, “Indonesia’e economy is still recovering,” Yudi told KONTAN, Tuesday (10/1).

During the period, the sales of C-Class type reached 1,035 units, or contributed to the largest Mercedes Benz’s total sales as many as 30%.

Conversely, another premium car brands Lexus recorded positive performance. As of November 2016, Lexus Indonesia sold as many as 1,024 units. This number increased “We have sold 1,038 units as of December 2016,” said General Manager of Lexus Indonesia Adrian Tirtadjaja. As of November 2016, Lexus Indonesia had sold 1,024 units. This number had increased significantly compared with the same period in the previous year. (Muhammad Farid/translator)