Japanese battery manufacturer Furukawa Battery and automotive distributor Indomobil Sukses Internasional have struck a deal to set up two joint ventures in Indonesia as part of their expansion plans for the country.
The first joint venture, Furukawa Indomobil Battery Manufacturing, will manufacture batteries at a 6.6 hectare factory in Purwakarta, West Java.
Furukawa Battery controls 51% of the manufacturing joint venture and Furukawa Indombil Battery Sales 49%.
A second joint venture, Furukawa Indomobil Battery Sales, will be responsible for sale of the products.
The total investment for both joint ventures is US$20m, Andreas Dhanu Sugih, president director at Furukawa Indomobil Battery Sales, reportedly said, adding that that US$19m will be used to finance the manufacturing plant and the remaining funding will go towards marketing the products.
Sugih concluded: “We want to focus first on the domestic market. However, if there is a chance for export, then we are prepared to look at the possibilities.”
Shinichiro Ota, director at Furukawa Indomobil Battery Manufacturing, said construction of the factory had begun in February and production could begin as soon as the first quarter, 2015.
“Indonesia is an attractive market full of potential with a large population,” said Shunji Ishizaki, president at Furukawa Indomobil Battery Manufacturing.
Furukawa and Indomobil declined to disclose the factory’s production capacity and revenue target from the joint venture.
Ishizaki said that Indomobil, which already uses GS Astra and GS Yuasa car batteries in their manufactured vehicles, would start using the FB Battery for its Japanese-branded vehicles, such as Nissan, Suzuki, and Hino.