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Honda opens first engine test facility in Indonesia
New factory: PT Honda Prospect Motor (HPM) marketing and aftersales director Jonfis Fandy president director Tomoki Uchida, vice-president director Hidekazu Tsunemi, senior vice-president director Benawati Abas and production director Yosanto converse while observing the installation of a crankshaft at the companyâs plant complex in Cikarang, West Java, on Wednesday
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New factory: PT Honda Prospect Motor (HPM) marketing and aftersales director Jonfis Fandy president director Tomoki Uchida, vice-president director Hidekazu Tsunemi, senior vice-president director Benawati Abas and production director Yosanto converse while observing the installation of a crankshaft at the companyâs plant complex in Cikarang, West Java, on Wednesday. The factory, capable of producing up to 243,000 crankshfts a year, is expected to begin operations next year.(Antara/Zarqoni Maksum) (HPM) marketing and aftersales director Jonfis Fandy president director Tomoki Uchida, vice-president director Hidekazu Tsunemi, senior vice-president director Benawati Abas and production director Yosanto converse while observing the installation of a crankshaft at the companyâs plant complex in Cikarang, West Java, on Wednesday. The factory, capable of producing up to 243,000 crankshfts a year, is expected to begin operations next year.(Antara/Zarqoni Maksum)
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span class="inline inline-center">New factory: PT Honda Prospect Motor (HPM) marketing and aftersales director Jonfis Fandy president director Tomoki Uchida, vice-president director Hidekazu Tsunemi, senior vice-president director Benawati Abas and production director Yosanto converse while observing the installation of a crankshaft at the company's plant complex in Cikarang, West Java, on Wednesday. The factory, capable of producing up to 243,000 crankshfts a year, is expected to begin operations next year.(Antara/Zarqoni Maksum)
PT Honda Prospect Motor (HPM), a joint venture between Japan's Honda Motor Co. and Indonesia's Prospect Motor, inaugurated its first engine test bench facility in Indonesia on Wednesday as it seeks to cut costs and scale up efficiency.
The company's marketing and after sales service director, Jonfis Fandy, said the new facility, located in Karawang, West Java, was part of the company's program to boost efficiency by cutting operational costs and shifting to local components amid the domestic economic slowdown and weaker rupiah.
'The new facility will reduce the cost of production per unit of car,' Jonfis said after the inauguration of the new facility.
In the past, the company conducted engine tests in Thailand, India and Japan, which cost more for cars sold on the Indonesian market.
'With the existence of the new facility, engine testing can now be carried out domestically in a relatively shorter period of time,' the company said in a statement.
HPM engine senior manager Agus Santo Mulyawan said the facility would be used to measure engine power performance and test engine endurance. The new facility will also be used to test components that the company produces locally.
Apart from the new engine test facility, HPM is also currently building a crankshaft factory near its Cikarang plant. The factory, capable of producing up to 243,000 crankshafts a year, is expected to be ready in September next year.
HPM is investing a total of Rp 500 billion (US$34.2 million) in the two facilities. The company declined to reveal the breakdown of the total investment.
'The investment will contribute to improving our production quality control as well as supporting our localization program,' HPM president director Tomoki Uchida said.
According to Jonfis, the opening of a crankshaft factory next year will increase the company's local content to about 85 percent from around 70 percent at present. He said that for the time being the company would mostly import crankshafts from India.
HPM has reiterated its commitment to increasing its locally produced components, as the rupiah plunged to levels unseen since the 1998 financial crisis to around Rp 14,700, the second-worst performing currency in the region after the Malaysian ringgit, which has added to costs for importers.
Besides constructing the two facilities, HPM also has a plan to roll out a connecting-rod component factory in 2018.
Jonfis did not elaborate on the impact of the ongoing domestic economic slowdown on the company's sales, other than to say that it affected HPM sales only slightly.
Indonesia's economic growth slowed to a six-year low level of 4.67 percent in the second quarter of this year. Automotive sales, a key indicator for domestic consumption in Southeast Asia's largest economy, fell 6.4 percent year-on-year (yoy) in August after suffering a 39.1 percent slump in July yoy.
Jonfis explained further that the company now relied on the sales of low cost green cars (LCGC), multiple people carriers and SUVs.
'We predict that the two types [LCGC and SUV] will still be customers' favorites until next year because we see their sales are increasing while sales of other types are decreasing,' he said.
When asked whether the economic slowdown and weak rupiah would impact car prices, Jonfis said that raising prices would be the last option the company would take.
'Increasing prices is normally the last choice for any auto company. For us now, we are more into increasing efficiency,' he said. (saf)
