January 13, 2026
JAKARTA – Indonesia’s auto market shrank further in 2025, with four-wheeler sales falling 7.2 percent year-on-year (yoy), signaling sustained domestic demand weakness despite year-end discounts and government incentives.
Wholesale car sales, which measure shipments from factories to dealers, totaled 803,687 units last year, down from 865,723 units in 2024, according to the latest data from the Association of Indonesian Automotive Manufacturers (Gaikindo). Retail sales, or dealer-to-consumer transactions, also fell 6.3 percent yoy to 833,692 units.
While sales remained in contraction, wholesale volumes came in above Gaikindo’s downgraded full-year target of 780,000 units, after the association cut its original 2025 forecast of 850,000 units amid deteriorating market conditions.
Gaikindo has yet to set a sales outlook for 2026.
“Not yet, we still need to discuss it with members first,” Gaikindo deputy chairman Jongkie Sugiarto said on Friday, as quoted by Kompas.com.
However, sales picked up sharply toward the end of the year, which the auto association attributed to heavy year-end discounts and promotional campaigns by automakers and dealers. Wholesale sales in December rose 26.9 percent from November to 94,100 units, Gaikindo data shows.
Japanese brands continued to dominate Indonesia’s car market in 2025, with Toyota and Daihatsu under PT Astra International leading wholesale sales at 250,431 units and 130,677 units, respectively, together accounting for more than half of the market, followed by Mitsubishi Motors with 71,781 units.
Chinese electric vehicle maker BYD ranked as Indonesia’s sixth best-selling car brand last year and the top-selling electric vehicle brand, recording wholesale sales of 46,711 units.
Chery placed ninth with wholesale sales of 19,391 units, narrowly ahead of Wuling, which sold 18,605 units. Meanwhile, South Korea’s Hyundai recorded wholesale sales of 19,007 units.
The Indonesian Motorcycle Industry Association (AISI), meanwhile, revealed that 6.4 million two-wheelers were sold last year, a 1.3 percent increase compared to the previous year. The figure aligns with the association’s target range of between 6.4 million and 6.7 million units.
The association noted several challenges behind its decision to maintain the same sales target for this year, including additional levies on top of vehicle taxes imposed by regional governments.
“We understand the need for increased revenue for local governments,” AISI commercial head Sigit Kumala said in a statement on Friday, as quoted by Antara.
“So, if there is an increase in the levy, we hope to receive incentives through unchanged vehicle taxes so that the impacts do not affect consumer demand.”
In 2025, the government rolled out a series of incentives aimed at supporting the automotive sector, from production to consumer demand.
However, it said it would not renew a key incentive scheme that, from 2024 to the end of 2025, allowed automakers to import completely built-up EVs without paying import duties, luxury tax or value-added tax (VAT), provided they committed to building manufacturing plants in Indonesia.
On the consumer side, the government introduced partial tax waivers for purchases of electric and hybrid vehicles that met specific local content requirements. But authorities remained divided on whether to introduce new incentives in 2026, as the prolonged market slowdown pressures manufacturers and raises concerns over production levels and employment.
Finance Minister Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa said in December that a review was needed to assess the impact of previous incentives on car sales, industry performance and job creation. Weak car sales “could not be directly linked” to the presence or absence of incentives, he noted, but instead “reflected broader macroeconomic conditions” that had softened over an extended period.