Ministry of Industry: Rising Fuel Prices Provides Momentum for Switching to Electric Vehicles

JAKARTADAILY.ID – The government has increased the price of subsidized fuel oil (BBM) due to rising world oil prices. On the other hand, the increase in fuel prices can be momentum for people to switch to low-emission vehicles, which can increase efficiency while supporting efforts to reduce carbon emissions.

“The increasing public interest in low-emission vehicles can also reduce fuel consumption and diversify energy.

So that it can reduce Indonesia's dependence on global oil prices," said Director General of Metal, Machinery, Transportation Equipment and Electronics (ILMATE) Taufiek Bawazier representing the Minister of Industry at the Gaikindo Indonesia International Auto Show (GIIAS) Surabaya 2022, Wednesday, September 14, 2022.

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"At the 29th GIIAS held at ICE BSD some time ago, there was a significant upward trend from people who were interested in owning electrification technology vehicles (xEV), both hybrid vehicles and battery-based electric motorized vehicles (KBLBB)," said Taufiek.

The amount of public interest can be seen from the sale of 1,594 units of xEV vehicles with details of 1,274 units of BEV / KBLBB and 320 units of hybrid vehicles. These sales are much larger than EV sales during the one-year period in 2021.

The 29th GIIAS event was attended by up to 385 thousand visitors with a total transaction of Rp 11.74 trillion for the purchase of 26,658 vehicles. This achievement is the highest record during the implementation of GIIAS.

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The automotive industry absorbs 38 thousand direct workers, as well as more than 1.5 million people who work along the automotive supply chain from tier-1 to tier-3. This sector is also able to provide significant foreign exchange through its export achievements.

"The export performance of the Indonesian automotive industry until July 2022 reached 238,000 units of CBU vehicles with a value of $2.95 billion, followed by exports of 60 thousand sets of CKD vehicles with a value of $71,159 million, and exports of 10.27 million pieces of components with a value of $1.18 billion," said Taufiek.

Taufiek hopes that the implementation of GIIAS Surabaya 2022 can encourage the achievement of green mobility in the Indonesian automotive industry.

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"Green mobility is the focus of manufacturing to produce environmentally friendly vehicles with various technological advances so that the automotive sector can support the carbon neutral target in 2060," said Taufiek in a report published on the Ministry of Industry's official website on Thursday, September 15, 2022.

Meanwhile, General Chairman of the Association of Indonesian Automotive Industries (Gaikindo) Yohannes Nangoi said that his party has a mission to show the brilliant performance of the Indonesian automotive industry, as well as to be an impetus for its growth.