Suzuki Motor to build new plant in Indonesia

Suzuki Motor plans to invest a total of 100 billion yen in Indonesia as Japanese automakers increase their presence in Asia, reports said on Sunday. The small-car maker has decided to spend 60 billion yen ($610 million) to build a new assembly plant in Indonesia, according to the Nikkei newspaper and other media. It will come on top of a 40-billion-yen investment mainly to build a new engine plant just outside the Indonesian capital Jakarta, which Suzuki announced last year, the Nikkei said. With the combined 100-billion-yen investment, Suzuki plans to create a comprehensive system to produce passenger vehicles, from lightweight, fuel-efficient engines to final assembly. The planned production hub, expected to come online in 2014, will increase Suzuki\'s production capacity in Indonesia from its current 150,000 cars to 200,000 cars each year, with a view to further expansion, the Nikkei said. Japanese automakers have steadily expanded their presence in Southeast Asia, which has become a key consumer market due to its growing middle class and as a source of cheap workers. Suzuki already has an extensive operation in Asia outside of Japan, producing more than half of its 2.88 million vehicles in the region in the fiscal year to March 2013, the Nikkei said. Suzuki officials could not be reached immediately for comment.