New Honda Interested in Production of Hybrid Cars in Indonesia
PT Honda Prospect Motor (HPM) emphasized that it will enter the hybrid car industry in Indonesia first, compared to electric cars in the domestic automotive market.
In fact, this was also expressed directly by Yusak Billy as Sales & Marketing and After Sales Director of PT HPM who stated that he would play in hybrid electric vehicles (HEV) rather than electricity (BEV).
So with the capital available for the Honda CRV RS e:HEV and Honda Accord RS e:HEV which have been marketed, is this a signal for Honda to expand its factory again in Indonesia?
According to Billy, there are several stages to consider before expanding by producing hybrid cars in Indonesia, namely introduction and maturation.
"If the introduction is not for mass production, but rather just introducing, we have (electrification technology), after that only if we expand we will mass produce," said Billy when met some time ago.
Billy said, it is different with internal combustion engine cars or Internal Combustion Engines (ICE), which have now entered the maturation and maturity stage.
"If hybrids have entered the introduction period, that is for products that have been introduced before the expansion period. After the public is educated about hybrids, there will be an expansion, this expansion includes local production," explained Billy.
Absolute Conditions for Production of Honda Hybrid Cars in Indonesia
Billy stated that even though Honda currently has the CRV RS e:HEV and Accord RS e:HEV hybrid cars, this does not mean that both can be directly developed locally.
On the other hand, to determine which products are made in Indonesia, you must know several considerations, one of which is being a volume maker or large sales.
"The problem is considering depreciation, if it is not a volume maker, the price will not be competitive, it will not reach economies of scale," said Billy.
But unfortunately, Billy doesn't want to reveal when Honda plans to assemble or produce hybrid cars in Indonesia.
However, if we call it Honda's current volume maker, it is focused on products with a price of less than IDR 400 million, such as the Honda HR-V, BR-V, WR-V and the best-selling Brio Series.
The Honda CRV RS e:HEV and Accord RS e:HEV are not called volume makers because their sales are still very segmented.
