Indonesia: 1976-2023 Historical Info available

July 21, 2019
Matt Gasnier
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First generation 1977 Toyota Kijang.

09/06/2020 update: There is now an All-models ranking every month from January 2019 onwards. Click on Sales Data and select Indonesia to consult.

21/07/2019 update: All-brands and All-models annual data is now available from 1990 to 2006 (10 additional articles and 2 enhanced articles).

The direct links to 26 Indonesian Historical articles are below.

BSCB is offering you Historical info for the Indonesian new car market covering over 40 years from 1976 to today. This is one of the markets in the world that has shown the most explosive growth over the period, going from a mere 72.000 sales in 1976 to 1.2 million in 2013. It hasn’t been all linear though, with 208.000 units hit in 1981 before the market weakened, 274.000 in 1990 and 387.000 in 1997. The financial crisis annihilated new car sales in Indonesia to the tune of -84.1% in 1998 to just 58.000, to then bounce back to 442.000 in 2004, 534.000 in 2005, 609.000 in 2008, 765.000 in 2010 and 1 million in 2012, then stagnating until Covid decimated sales, down to 532.000 in 2020. The million units is passed again in 2022.

Third generation 1986 Toyota Kijang.

Indonesia is the most MPV-centred market in the world and Toyota has dominated the market for as long as we have data for. The Japanese manufacturer launched the Kijang (Indonesian for ‘deer’) in 1977 specifically for the Indonesian market.

Toyota celebrating 40 years of Toyota Kijang in 2017.

We estimate that the Toyota Kijang took the lead of Indonesian sales charts as early as 1978. It then dominated throughout the eighties and kept the lead for an estimated 28 consecutive years up until 2005 (official figures start in 1990), spanning 5 generations.

Toyota Avanza in Bali, Indonesia – April 2012.

It then passed the relay to the smaller Toyota Avanza, also still Indonesia-made and -focused, in 2006. The Avanza held the crown for 14 years, despite some strong challenges by the Honda Mobilio in 2014 and the Mitsubishi Xpander in 2018. The Avanza was outsold by the Honda Brio and Suzuki Carry Pikap in 2020 but reclaimed the lead in 2021 before relinquishing the throne to the Brio again in 2022. In 2023, the Toyota Kijang Innova returned to the top of the charts for the first time in 18 years.

Timor SW516

Discover the little-known and ephemeral adventure of the national Timor brand created by the son of President Suharto and importing bargain-basement Kia Sephias from South Korea from 1996 to 1998.

The Isuzu Panther was #2 in Indonesia from 1997 to 1999.

Witness the success of the Daihatsu Zebra (#2 in 1990), Suzuki Carry (#2 from 1991 to 1996, from 2000 to 2004 and in 2020), Isuzu Panther (#2 from 1997 to 1999), Daihatsu Xenia (#2 from 2009 to 2013), Honda Mobilio (#2 in 2014), Daihatsu Gran Max (#2 in 2015), Toyota Calya (#2 in 2017) and Mitsubishi Xpander (#2 in 2018 and 2021).

The Mitsubishi Xpander led for most of 2018 but ended the year at #2.