Financial Times reports that Chinese electric car makers BYD and Neta Auto are poised to challenge Japan's dominance of the Indonesian auto market, announcing new investment plans and unveiling their latest models at the Jakarta Motor Show.
Suryacipta Swadaya, an Indonesian real estate developer, announced last week that BYD will build a $1 billion factory on 1.08 square kilometers of land in West Java province. Construction is scheduled to begin in August and operations will start in January 2026. The capacity of the plant will be announced later, the company said.
“We believe that the facility to be built will be able to drive the growth of Indonesia's automotive industry and the transition to clean energy, while supporting the economy, especially in the neighboring regions,” Zhao Ying, president of BYD Auto Indonesia, said in a statement.
About 1 million new cars were sold in Indonesia last year, making it Southeast Asia's largest auto market. Japanese brands such as Toyota and Mitsubishi control more than 90 percent of the market, but Chinese automakers are now turning to electric vehicles.
“This year, Neta Indonesia is committed to increasing our investment in Indonesia by launching local production,” Neta Managing Director Jerry Huang said at a press conference at the auto show last week. In November, the company signed a deal with Handal Indonesia Motor to In November, the company signed an agreement with Handal Indonesia Motor to assemble EVs in Indonesia. Production is scheduled to begin in the second quarter of this year.
More than 80 brands, including motorcycle makers and parts companies, participated in Periklindo, the Indonesian Electric Vehicle Industry Association, which held its first EV exhibition in 2022. This year, the venue was more than twice the size of last year.
BYD made its debut at the Jakarta Electric Vehicle Show with the Dolphin, which is expected to be delivered from China starting in July and will be priced at about Rp 425 million ($26,500), half the global average for an electric car, but for most consumers, the average monthly salary is about Rp 3.18 million, according to data from the Central Bureau of Statistics in August.
Another newcomer to the Jakarta Electric Vehicle Show, Neta, unveiled its Neta V-II, priced from Rp 200 million to Rp 30 million, the cheapest model in the company's Indonesian lineup.
“The creation of the Neta V-II is the beginning of our commitment to the Indonesian market and to be the first Neta product to be assembled locally,” Wong told reporters. Demand for electric vehicles is slowing in the United States and other markets, thus further making Southeast Asia a fiercely contested market for Chinese EV makers.