Japan's Hyundai Motor aims to invest in Indonesia

JAKARTA: South Korean car maker Hyundai Motor is aiming to invest in Indonesia to build a manufacturing plant to tap strong consumer demand, an Indonesian newspaper said on Monday.

Hyundai Indonesia has asked its parent company Hyundai Motor to invest in a factory to be finished in 2013, the Bisnis Indonesia newspaper quoted Jongkie D. Sugiarto, CEO of Hyundai Indonesia, as saying. No investment figure was mentioned.

Indonesia's investment chief said last year that Hyundai Motor was eyeing the country, where car sales are expected to climb to record levels again this year after surging 57 percent in 2010.

Last year, Hyundai sold 3,700 cars in Indonesia and the company expects sales volumes to double this year to 8,000 units, Bisnis Indonesia quoted the firm's local marketing and sales director Erwin Djajadiputra as saying.

Foreign direct investment has picked up in Southeast Asia's biggest economy, thanks to political stability and strong economic growth, with South Korean firms leading a wave of Asian manufacturing investments.

The government is also hoping Japanese auto firms hit by the recent tsunami will relocate some of their manufacturing facilities to Indonesia. Supplies of components from Japan to Southeast Asian auto makers remain disrupted.

Copyright Reuters, 2011