Daihatsu Reveals Car Types Popular Among Regional Communities

KatadataOTO – Electrification in the automotive sector has not been evenly distributed throughout Indonesia. In areas outside of Jakarta and the island of Java, electric cars are not yet a primary choice.

One reason is that the infrastructure and road conditions are not yet supportive. Therefore, affordable gasoline-powered cars like the LCGC (Low Cost Green Car) become the choice.

Furthermore, the belief that rear-wheel drive vehicles are stronger for tackling various road terrains is still strongly held by consumers in the regions.

This is then said to be one of the strengths of Daihatsu, which has a product with these criteria, namely the Terios.

Photo : TrenOto

It should be noted that despite receiving a refresh in 2023, the Terios has retained its rear-wheel drive or RWD (Rear Wheel Drive) system. 

Other models like the Xenia previously used RWD, but have since switched to FWD (Front Wheel Drive) for several reasons, such as making the vehicle's weight lighter.

“Indeed, one of the advantages of the Terios currently is the X variant, which is a best seller, especially the manual transmission,” opened Tri Mulyono, Marketing and Customer Relation Division Head of PT Astra International Tbk. Daihatsu Sales Operation, when met in South Jakarta recently.

According to Tri, in several provinces like Bali, sales of the Daihatsu Terios are number one in the SUV (Sport Utility Vehicle) segment.

This is closely related to the road contours that consumers in their areas travel on every day.

“They have a perception that rear-wheel drive is more comfortable for their needs. That's why its (Terios) sales are still good,” said Tri.

As of March 2025, Daihatsu's retail sales in the first quarter successfully reached 36,917 units. The Terios was in third place with a contribution of 4,439 units.

Sales are still dominated by the Jabodetabek (Jakarta, Bogor, Depok, Tangerang, Bekasi) area, plus Karawang and Banten. This totals 23 percent of overall sales.

Photo : TrenOto

This is followed by Kalimantan at 17 percent, Sulawesi to Papua at 16 percent, and North Sumatra as well as Aceh to Medan at 12 percent.

Another 10 percent is in southern Sumatra, covering Palembang to Lampung, with East Java at eight percent, and Central Java and Yogyakarta at five percent.

“West Java and Bali are each four percent. The growth outside of Java indeed occurred post-pandemic; the contribution from these islands adds a different color,” said Tri.