It appears that work on Indonesia’s newest national car – previewed at the Gaikindo Indonesia International Auto Show (GIIAS) in July – is progressing nicely, with production expected to begin within the next three years, according to the country’s president Prabowo Subianto.
“I have allocated funds, we have prepared land for the factories. The team is currently working. We have already produced Indonesian-made jeeps,” he said during his cabinet’s first-year meeting yesterday, local magazine Tempo reported.
Prabowo added that he is already using one of those 4x4s – a civilian version of the military-spec Maung manufactured by state-owned defence contractor PT Pindad (Persero) – and other members of the government should follow suit.
Last year, Prabowo expressed his intention for the Maung to become the government’s official vehicle, issuing a written statement saying: “I have planned that most likely, all ministers, all vice ministers, director generals, and officials at the level of governors, regents, and mayors should use vehicles made by our own nation.”
It should be noted that the i2C (Indonesian Indigenous Car) shown at GIIAS is the product of a different defence contractor, PT Teknologi Militer Indonesia (TMI). The car, designed locally with the assistance of Italdesign, is a rather more refined three-row electric SUV taking cues from the Kia EV9 and Hyundai Kona.
The i2C project is set to use a platform and technologies from an as-yet-unnamed (likely Chinese) foreign partner, with initial specs including outputs of 204 PS (150 kW) and 310 Nm, a 83.4 kWh nickel manganese cobalt (NMC) battery and a range of 617 km on China’s lenient CLTC cycle. It’s targeted to enter production in either late 2027 or early 2028, so it looks to be still on schedule.
Minister of industry Agus Gumiwang Kartasasmita echoed Prabowo’s comments, saying that on Thursday, his ministry submitted a proposal for the national car project to become a national strategic project (PSN). “We have already signed the proposal,” he said. “If it becomes a PSN, I think the realisation will be faster.”
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