Isuzu Highlights the Aggressive Influx of Chinese Products in the Commercial Sector

KatadataOTO – The onslaught of Chinese car brands is making competition between brands increasingly fierce. Not only in the passenger vehicle segment but also in Commercial Vehicles (CV).

To give an idea, throughout 2024, completely built-up imports of Chinese trucks recorded high figures with a value of 647 million USD for a total of 13,669 units.

Meanwhile, referring to data from Gaikindo, truck sales in 2024 were 66,570 units, a decrease of 14.1 percent from the 2023 achievement.

That figure does not include truck imports by Chinese manufacturers, even though the number is considerably large.

Photo : Antara

The weakening of purchasing power throughout 2025 was also felt by various commercial vehicle manufacturers.

“Chinese OEMs are very aggressive in the competition (truck sales) and pose a threat,” said Makoto Goto, General Manager of the Regional Management Office International Sales Division Isuzu in Yokohama, Japan on Thursday (30/10).

He sees one strategy that can be used as capital to compete with Chinese manufacturers is how comprehensive the after-sales service offered by the manufacturer is.

For large vehicles like trucks in areas outside the city, easily accessible dealers and after-sales services remain an added value.

To date, Isuzu has 125 official dealers and 166 Isuzu Partner Workshops (BMI) in various regions of Indonesia.

“The truck business is not just about selling products to consumers, but also about how to reduce downtime,” Goto emphasized.

Currently, Isuzu offers several commercial vehicle models for consumers in the country. Among them are the Isuzu Traga, Elf, Giga, as well as the Light Commercial Vehicles (LCV) MU-X and D-Max.

All of them target consumers in various fields such as mining, plantations, oil and gas, as well as rental company needs.

In 2024, the Isuzu Elf became their best-selling model with sales figures of 12,610 units.

That achievement was then followed by the Traga, a model specially designed for the domestic market. Its sales reached 10,954 units.

Photo : Isuzu

Meanwhile, the heavy-duty truck (HDT) Giga contributed sales of 10,954 units, 20.5 percent of the HDT market share.

This year, Isuzu does not seem to be introducing any new products but is focusing on after-sales services to maintain sales figures.

Isuzu is reportedly only going to bring a new product to Indonesia in 2026 at the earliest, namely the 2026 D-Max double cabin pickup.