Indonesia’s automotive market and manufacturing base are larger than Vietnam’s, and the country has abundant nickel. It produced nearly 1.2 million cars in 2024 and exported 472,194, while EVs accounted for 16.06% of vehicle sales in the first half of 2026. Yet foreign brands still dominate the industry, and Indonesia has not built a homegrown carmaker at scale.
The government is developing a national automotive hub in Subang, with a planned capacity of 300,000 vehicles a year, and expects domestic electric-car production to begin in 2028. But national vehicle projects remain at an early stage: Pindad was reported to have made about 4,000 of 14,000 vehicles ordered for government needs, with its annual capacity largely allocated to the defense ministry.
Foreign manufacturers are expanding their role in the transition. Chinese automaker BYD had sold 93,869 vehicles in Indonesia from 2024 through the first half of 2026, according to the article, and opened a Subang plant in September with annual capacity of up to 150,000 vehicles. The comparison with Vietnam is pointed: VinFast delivered more than 87,000 EVs there in 2024 and 175,099 in 2025, while Indonesian commentators cite policy consistency, technical skills, education and research as areas where their country needs to make progress.