25 Mil. Honda Motorcycles Produced in Indonesia

Astra Honda Motor (AHM), Honda’s joint venture company in Indonesia responsible for motorcycle production and sales, announced that it is celebrating the 25 millionth small engine displacement motorcycle that rolls of production line, in a time when motorcycle manufacturers around the world struggle with the sales of larger performance bikes.

The Japanese manufacturer began motorcycle production in Indonesia in 1971 through a technical collaboration agreement. In December 2000, AHM began integrating the parts manufacturing, engine and body assembly and wholesales activities functions. Five years later, AHM began production at its third plant which has an annual production capacity of 1 million units.

Today, AHM has an annual motorcycle production capacity of 3.1 million units, the second largest among all Honda subsidiaries and affiliates worldwide. The total motorcycle market in Indonesia, which is the third largest in the world after China and India, marked an all-time record of approximately 6.2 million units in 2008, a 33 percent increase from 2007.

Due to the global financial crisis, industry-wide sales declined during the first half of this year; however, the market started on a recovery trend due to various factors including a decline in policy interest rate, disinflation and stabilization of exchange rates.

Following this success, Honda Motor is set to spend more than 10 billion yen (approx. $109 million) to increase capacity at the Indonesian plant by 20 percent, which would mean a total of 3.6 million units produced each year.

The models produced at the Astra Honda Motor factory are listed below:

• Cub-type: Supra X125 (125cc), Blade (110cc), Revo (110cc)
• AT: Vario Techno (110cc), Vario (110cc), BeAT(110cc)
• Sports-type: Tiger (200cc), Mega Pro (160cc), CS1 (125cc)