JAKARTA, Sept 19 (Reuters) – Joko Chahjono, a senior vice
president at Bangkok Bank in Jakarta, owns at least 10 Toyotas
and has never bought anything else. Seeking comfort above all in
a car, Chahjono adores his Camry sedan and is thinking of buying
his first Lexus from the Japanese carmaker’s luxury line.

Admiration of Toyota Motor Corp (7203.T: Quote, Profile, Research) is widespread in
Indonesia, where the world’s biggest automaker accounted for a
staggering 37 percent of the market last year with sales
concentrated in the popular multipurpose vehicle (MPV) segment.

JAKARTA (Reuters) – Joko Chahjono, a senior vice president at Bangkok Bank in Jakarta, owns at least 10 Toyotas and has never bought anything else. Seeking comfort above all in a car, Chahjono adores his Camry sedan and is thinking of buying his first Lexus from the Japanese carmaker’s luxury line.

Admiration of Toyota Motor Corp is widespread in Indonesia, where the world’s biggest automaker accounted for a staggering 37 percent of the market last year with sales concentrated in the popular multipurpose vehicle (MPV) segment.

JAKARTA, Sept 17 (Reuters) – Honda Motor Co aims to
expand its share of Indonesia’s big motorcycle market to 60
percent from 46 percent before the decade is up by increasing
its edge over arch-rival Yamaha Motor , the
chief of its Indonesian venture said.

Honda, the world’s top motorcycle maker, increased its
annual output capacity in Indonesia to 4.3 million vehicles in
July from 3.5 million at the end of last year, scrambling to
keep pace with surging demand.

JAKARTA, Sep 13 (Reuters) – General Motors Co (GM.N: Quote, Profile, Research) expects
at least five-fold growth in its sales in Indonesia by 2014 when
its reinstated factory will be producing at its full capacity of
40,000 vehicles annually, the head of its local operations said
on Tuesday.

The U.S. auto giant announced last month that it would
reactivate its factory in West Java, Indonesia, to build a
“people mover” van for Southeast Asia from 2013 and raise its
position in the fast-growing car market dominated by Japanese
brands. [ID:nN1E77B0AR]

JAKARTA, Sept 13 (Reuters) – Toyota Motor Corp said
on Tuesday it would invest a total $337 million in Indonesia,
including in building a new 70,000-vehicles-a-year factory in
its second move this year to expand in the fast-growing car
market.

The world’s biggest automaker said the factory would produce
vehicles such as its Kijang and Innova, with annual capacity at
the new plant rising to 180,000 units by 2013.

YOKOHAMA, Japan (Reuters) – Toyota Motor Corp (7203.T: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) is working to create a robust supply chain that would recover within two weeks in the event of another massive earthquake like the one on March 11 that is still affecting output after six months, a top executive said.

Toyota and other Japanese automakers were forced to halt a large portion of their production both inside and outside Japan for months after the earthquake and tsunami cut off the supply of hundreds of parts from the country’s devastated northeast.

TOKYO/SEOUL (Reuters) – New vehicle sales in Japan plunged by more than a fifth in August as production remained disrupted from the March earthquake, while South Korean brands kept growing thanks to solid gains overseas.

Excluding 660cc minivehicles, sales in Japan dropped 25.5 percent to 216,510 vehicles, marking the 12th consecutive month of declines and the second-biggest fall on record for August, the Japan Automobile Dealers Association said on Thursday.

TOKYO/SEOUL, Sept 1 (Reuters) – New vehicle sales in Japan
plunged by more than a fifth in August as production remained
disrupted from the March earthquake, while South Korean brands
kept growing thanks to solid gains overseas.

Excluding 660cc minivehicles, sales in Japan dropped 25.5
percent to 216,510 vehicles, marking the 12th consecutive month
of declines and the second-biggest fall on record for August,
the Japan Automobile Dealers Association said on Thursday.

TOKYO (Reuters) – Honda Motor Co is studying possible production bases overseas to replace export-bound car production in Japan that has been battered by a strong yen, a top executive said on Tuesday.

Japanese auto executives have repeatedly warned that the yen had strengthened beyond what domestic exporters could cope with, but Honda Chief Financial Officer Fumihiko Ike’s comment was the first indication so far that any concrete steps are being considered to reduce output in Japan.

TOKYO (Reuters) – Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd (7270.T: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) should be able to reach its profit forecast for this year even with the dollar trading 3 yen below its assumption because it is protected through hedging through the first half, its president said.

The dollar’s fall near a record low against the yen is offsetting much of the profits garnered from brisk sales of the company’s Subaru cars. Fuji Heavy sold just under half of its cars in North America last year, and every 1-yen fall in the dollar wipes out 5 billion yen from its annual operating profit.