Daimler Trucks to up the ante in core market Indonesia

Daimler Trucks, the world’s leading truck manufacturer with a strong foothold in Asia, is enhancing its position in commercial vehicles in its core market – Indonesia.

The Daimler Trucks subsidiary Fuso (Mitsubishi Fuso Truck and Bus Corporation, MFTBC), Mitsubishi Corporation (MC), Mitsubishi Motors Corporation (MMC), and the Indonesian company PT Krama Yudha (KY) have signed a framework agreement.

As part of this agreement, the Indonesian trade and sales partner PT Krama Yudha Tiga Berlian Motors (KTB) will focus exclusively on selling Fuso brand CVs. While KTB’s passenger car business will be transferred to an independent legal entity, Fuso will increase its stake in the newly structured company KTB from 18 to 30 percent. After the current restructuring of KTB, Fuso (MFTBC) holds 30 percent, Krama Yudha (KY) 40 percent and Mitsubishi Corporation (MC) 30 percent.

According to Dr Wolfgang Bernhard, Member of the Board of Management of Daimler AG for Daimler Trucks & Buses, “By increasing our stake in our partner KTB, we are underlining the importance of the Indonesian market and can be even more active locally. Concentrating our sales activities completely on the commercial vehicle market fits perfectly into our Daimler Trucks strategy of consistently focusing on the needs of our customers. With this shift, we as market leader are positioning ourselves in order to continue to tap market potential in Indonesia in the best way possible.”

Marc Llistosella, president and CEO of Mitsubishi Fuso Truck and Bus Corporation and Head of Daimler Trucks Asia, said: “With our Fuso brand, we have been the clear market leader in Indonesia for over 40 years. By increasing our stake in KTB, we can expand on our position even further.”

With a current market share of about 47 percent, Fuso has been leading the Indonesian market for 46 years in a row since 1970. The country is the largest export market for the Fuso brand. The light duty truck Fuso Canter, which is sold under the name Fuso Colt Diesel, is the best-seller in Indonesia.

KTB will serve as dedicated wholesaler and distributor of FUSO vehicles in the Indonesian market and will continue to hold its stake in the related production business, which is responsible for vehicle assembly in Indonesia.

For Daimler Trucks, this transaction is another important step forward in implementing its strategy of global and consistent orientation towards the requirements of commercial vehicle customers. To this end, Daimler Trucks is partially repositioning its sales and service organizations around the world with a clear focus on the commercial vehicle business. Daimler Trucks is thereby putting regional and national customer orientation at the center of its operations.

Indonesia has a population of about 250 million people, of which 70 percent are under the age of 40. In 2016, the annual GDP growth rate is at 5.1 percent. The middle class is forecasted to expand to more than 140 million people by the year 2020. Indonesia is the world’s fourth most populous country with growth prospects, which are expected to be supported by a large number of infrastructure projects in the near future. It can be assumed that the infrastructure sector will expand further and result in an increasing demand for commercial vehicles.