Indonesia's car demand to rise 275 percent by 2025

Domestic demand for automobiles in Indonesia is going to increase dramatically by 275 percent by 2025, driven by rising per capita incomes, robust economic growth and urbanization, a consulting group was quoted as saying on Tuesday. The ratio of local car owners would jump significantly from 80 to 300 units per 1,000 people by 2025, an increase of 275 percent, boosted particularly by increased consumer purchasing power, said Masaki Honda, the principal consultant for automotive and transportation at Frost & Sullivan Asia Pacific. "Indonesia's gross domestic product (GDP), which was 700 billion U.S. dollar in 2010, is expected to reach 4.6 trillion U.S. dollar by 2025, making it the world's 10th largest economy. By that time, the GDP per capita will be 17,000 U.S. dollar, up from around 3,000 U.S. dollar at present," Honda was quoted by the Jakarta Post as saying here.The consultant said that basic cars would be more affordable by 2025, pushing original equipment manufacturers to expand production capacity to meet higher demand. According to Honda, another trend that would influence car demand by 2025 was urbanization, which will create more megacities, or cities with populations of around 8 million; mega-regions, with populations of around 15 million; and mega-corridors, with more than 25 million inhabitants. Car sales, a key indicator of consumption in Southeast Asia's largest economy, have reached new records in the past years, totaling 894,164 units, in 2011, up 19.93 percent from 2010. In the January-to-August period of 2012, sales have topped 714, 152 units.