Kawasaki Builds New Factory In Cikarang

Cikarang, W Java, April 8 (Antara) - Kawasaki Heavy Industries Ltd. officially announces its second new factory in MM2100 Industrial Area, West Cikarang, Bekasi, which is also the third largest after Japan and Thailand. The inauguration ceremony was attended by Indonesian Industry Minister Mohamad S. Hidayat and Indonesian Minister of Trade Muhammad Lutfi, here on Tuesday. "In developing countries, there is an increase of buyer percentage for medium or big recreational bikes," pointed out President and CEO of Kawasaki Heavy Industries Shigeru Murayama during the inauguration ceremony. "Kawasaki immediately has seized this increased demand. Kawasaki decided to invest in building a new plant to meet the demand of enthusiastic Indonesian bikers," Murayama added. Kawasaki Motor Indonesia, KMI, President Director Yoshihiro Tanigawa explained that Kawasaki is present in Indonesia since 1994, and this year will be a big leap as it opens a new plant. Tanigawa described that this plant has a production capacity of 150 thousand units during the year with a workforce of 1.6 thousand people to meet the market demand from premium grade motor users in Indonesia, which rose along with the increasing middle-class in Indonesia. "Kawasaki`s sales growth has prompted the need to build a new plant with a larger capacity," Tanigawa explained. This plant will produce four of Kawasaki variants such as Kawasaki Ninja RR Mono, KLX 150S, KLX150L, and D-Tracker150. "We are also planning to export our products to the regional market besides advancing the domestic market," Tanigawa added. Meanwhile, Indonesian Trade Minister Muhammad Lutfi observed that the new plant establishment shows the change of the Japanese investment growth trend in Indonesia. "Today the Japan industrialization trend is changing in Indonesia. Formerly, Japan was looking for a cheap source of production here, but today they need to survive coming into an established market in Indonesia," remarked Lutfi. In 2010, the Japanese investment in Indonesia amounted to 716 million U.S. dollars, having increased to 4.7 billion dollars currently. "Indonesia is not just buying its own production with Japanese technology but also making Indonesia the industrial base, in the domestic as well as the global market," explained Lutfi. Kawasaki production in Indonesia began in 1995, and initially only produced small motorcycles. The Indonesian market has been growing rapidly year after year, and ever since the Ninja 250R variant was introduced in Indonesia in 2008, it became the choice of motor sport lovers. Since then, the premium class Kawasaki bike sales growth in Indonesia has been rapidly increasing.