Indonesia June-July 2016: Toyota Sienta, Cayla & Daihatsu Sigra land

The Toyota Calya has launched in Indonesia 

* See the Top 10 best-selling brands and Top 20 models by clicking on the title *

Indonesia is back with a two-month catchup on BSCB. June sales are up a very encouraging 15% year-on-year to 91.471, lifting the H1 2016 into positive territory at 531.920 vs. 525.479 a year ago. Year-to-date, Toyota remains by far the most popular manufacturer in the country with just under 1 in every 3 sales (32.8%) but its access brand Daihatsu is knocked out of its traditional second spot by Honda at a splendid 109.662 sales and 20.6% vs. 89.510 and 16.8%. Mitsubishi (9.6%) overtakes Suzuki (9.3%) for 4th place overall above Datsun (3.5%) with Hino leaping up to #7 ahead of Nissan, Isuzu and Mazda making the Top 10 100% Japanese.

The Honda Brio Satya ranks 5th in June and 3rd in July.

The Toyota Avanza keeps the models crown at 12.2% share, more than double a Toyota Kijang Innova (6%) boosted by the new model. The Daihatsu Xenia slips down to #3 but remains extremely solid at 5.9% share above the Daihatsu Ayla. Excellent performance of the Honda Brio Satya up 15 spots on May to 5th place with 5.7% share, but the Honda BR-V ends its launch honeymoon with a 7 spot drop to #13 whereas it still ranks at a brilliant third place overall over the First Half of 2016.

It’s in July that the Indonesian models ranking offers us a festival of newcomers. The overall market is once again up in double-digits at +12.5% to 62.585, leading to a year-to-date cume of 594.514 units, up 2% or 13.400 sales on the same period last year. Keep in mind Indonesian data is wholesale sales from factories to dealerships, not end-consumer sales. The Toyota Avanza is still #1 but drops below 10% share for the first time since June 2015 when dealers were awaiting the new model. The Toyota Kijang Innova remains in the 2nd spot with 6.1% share and the Honda Brio Satya stuns with a very first podium ranking thanks to 3.111 sales and 5%.

Daihatsu Sigra

But the big event in the Indonesian ranking is the thunderous arrival of three all-new nameplates from the Toyota Group, all MPVs. For the first time, the local arm of Toyota (Astra) launches a locally assembled 7-seat MPV that undercuts in price its best-sellers the Toyota Avanz and Daihatsu Xenia: the Toyota Calya and Daihatsu Sigra. Both cars qualify for duty exemptions under Indonesia’s Low Cost Green Car (LCGC) initiative and feature specific logos on their front grille instead of the Toyota and Daihatsu ones. The Calya storms into the ranking directly at #5 with 3.003 sales to dealers and its twin the Daihatsu Sigra enters at #11 with 2.014 units, even though both models were launched on August 2.

With the Calya and Sigra, Toyota is pre-empting the arrival in Indonesia of Chinese low-cost MPV specialist Wuling.

We forecast the Calya will dethrone the Avanza and become Indonesia’s new best-seller in the coming months. While the cheapest Avanza 1.3-litre manual starts from IDR 183 million (US$13.900), the Daihatsu Sigra is priced at IDR 106-149 million ($8.000-11.300) while the Calya is at IDR 130-150 million (US$9.800-11.400). Why this sudden enthusiasm for ultra-low-cost MPVs from Toyota? The answer fits in one word: Wuling. The Chinese manufacturer, a joint-venture between SAIC and General Motors, has just launched in Indonesia the Hongguang low-cost MPV (#1 in China), and is currently building a new plant in Indonesia to create a car it says will be tailored to local needs… Beware Toyota.

The Toyota Sienta lands directly at #4 in Indonesia. 

Finally, the other new nameplate launched by Toyota this month is at the more premium end of the MPV spectrum: the Toyota Sienta, already enormously successful at home in Japan (#3 so far in 2016), and headed for similar success in Indonesia with a flamboyant first month at #4 with 3.007 sales. With the Sienta, Toyota is aiming at Honda and its extraordinarily successful Mobilio and BR-V. So far so good: the Mobilio is down 9 spots in July to #17 and the BR-V falls out of the Top 20 for the first time since its launch last January.

Previous post: Indonesia May 2016: Toyota Avanza and Daihatsu Xenia back at the helm

One year ago (June): Indonesia June 2015: Honda Mobilio and Toyota Innova recover

One year ago (H1): Indonesia First Half 2015: Pickups winners in market down 18

Full June and July 2016 Top 20 models and H1 2016 Top 10 brands below.