Thuggery Continues to Haunt New Car Sales in Indonesia

KatadataOTO – The sale of new cars in Indonesia throughout 2025 has not yet improved. It can be said that it is still far from optimal.

Various factors are touted as stumbling blocks for the four-wheeled vehicle market in the country. Such as the sluggish economic conditions that disrupt people's purchasing power.

However, the challenges for manufacturers when selling their products do not stop there. Because acts of thuggery also haunt the sale of new cars in the country.

“Our automotive industry is disrupted, because the financing industry is also disrupted by the presence of thuggery there,” said Kukuh Kumara, General Secretary of the Association of Indonesian Automotive Industries (Gaikindo) in Jakarta some time ago.

Photo : Wuling

Kukuh explained that many financing companies rely on thuggery to deal with bad loans.

According to him, these actions also involve Community Organizations (Ormas). This makes consumers quite anxious.

Because debt collectors often repossess vehicles with defaulted loans in the middle of the road. The government has responded to this.

They prohibit financing companies from carrying out thuggery practices. They must then repossess cars with defaulted loans according to regulations.

However, financing companies have instead tightened credit requirements. This is to avoid the risk of stalled installments.

“This started to emerge after the regulation from the Financial Services Authority (OJK) in 2023. Repossessing vehicles with bad loans cannot be done arbitrarily,” Kukuh added.

For your information, the OJK did issue Regulation Number 22 of 2023. It contains provisions on Consumer and Public Protection in the Financial Services Sector.

The above rule prohibits the arbitrary repossession of vehicles with bad loans. A step that should protect debtors, but many parties have exploited this loophole.

“But from there, many got creative, and this also disrupts (new car sales),” Kukuh emphasized.

It should be noted that the government, together with the OJK, is trying to regulate debt collection practices. Especially those that rely on acts of thuggery.

In Law No. 4 of 2023 concerning the Development and Strengthening of the Banking System (UU PPSK), business actors are prohibited from using threats, intimidation, or elements related to ethnicity, religion, race, and inter-group relations during the collection process.

Photo : Kia

The OJK also regulates the collection time for providers to debtors, with a maximum limit of 8:00 PM local time. This policy was made to ensure consumers are not disturbed.

“The financing companies are disrupted, tightening requirements, and the impact is a decrease in vehicle sales,” Kukuh concluded.

Kukuh said this condition has also become a stumbling block, considering that 80 percent of car purchases in the country are made on credit.