KUALA LUMPUR (April 17): Sime Darby Motors has entered the Indonesian automotive market via PT Performance Motors Indonesia – a joint venture between its subsidiary Sime Singapore Ltd and Galeon Group.

In a statement on Monday (April 17), the company said PT Performance Motors Indonesia, which marks Sime Darby Motors’ first venture in Indonesia, gives the automotive arm of Sime Darby Bhd an immediate presence in Jakarta and Medan, via two dealerships representing BMW and MINI.

The firm said it will also serve as a springboard for the joint venture’s expansion into other provinces in Java and Sumatra with the BMW Group seeking to grow their network in Indonesia.

Sime Darby Bhd Group chief executive officer Datuk Jeffri Salim Davidson said the new joint venture is part of Sime Darby’s strategy to grow its motors operations in the Asia-Pacific.

“Indonesia, being a country with one of the largest automotive markets in the region, and with a large and fast-growing middle and upper middle class — is a very important market for us.

“We appreciate BMW Group’s trust in Sime Darby Motors, and we look forward to continuing growing with BMW Group Indonesia as a strategic partner, and to work closely to grow the BMW and MINI brands in Indonesia,” he said.

Meanwhile, BMW Group Indonesia president director Ramesh Divyanathan said the dealer network and its partnership with Galeon Group is a clear sign of confidence in BMW Group Indonesia’s presence here and the strong sales performance of BMW and MINI brands in this market, both of which set new records in 2022.

Leonel Gozali, principal of Galeon Group said that together with Sime Darby, it would be able to accelerate growth via brand expansion to include the MINI brand and expand its territory outside of current locations.

At the time of writing, Sime Darby was unchanged at RM2.17 with 620,000 shares traded.