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JAKARTA, Feb 15 — Locally produced Toyota Avanza minivan topped the list automobile sales in Indonesia last year, with more than 100,000 units sold, Toyota Astra Motor (TAM) says.

The total automobile sales in Indonesia reached 480,000 vehicles last year, down from more than 600,000 in 2008 and 430,000 in 2007.

TAM marketing director Joko Trisanyoto revealed yesterday that the company’s popular Toyota Kijang Inova brand came in second, with 36,386 units sold, followed by Daihatsu Xenia, with 41,487.

Honda Jazz came forth with 16,353, followed by Nissan Livina with 14,144, Toyota Rush 13,081, and Suzuki APV with 12,692.

Joko said that all the winning models were assembled locally. Locally assembled vehicles dominated the Indonesia’s vehicle market, accounting for 87.1 per cent of sales last year, up from 85.7 per cent in 2008 and 84.3 per cent in 2007.

“This shows that domestic consumers like the MPV and SUV models produced in Indonesia. I’m confident that if sales of a model are high enough, the principal will use Indonesia as a production base for this model,” he said. — Jakarta Post