Toyota says March Indonesia sales down 42 pct

JAKARTA, Apr 11 (Reuters) Sales of Toyota vehicles fell nearly 42 percent last month from March 2005, an official at the local unit of the world's number-two auto maker said on Tuesday, as the market struggled to recover from a steep fuel price hike.

Jodjana Jody, head of sales at PT Toyota Astra Motor, said total vehicle sales by all makers in the world's fourth most populous nation were around 26,000 units in March, similar to sales in the two previous months -- but less than half the 52,765 cars and trucks sold in March last year.

Indonesia's Automotive Industry Association (Gaikindo) has yet to publish official auto sales data for March.

''In March, our (Toyota) sales dropped to 9,609 units. We are trying to manage our stocks so there won't be pile ups if market conditions remain unfavourable,'' Jody told Reuters.

He said Toyota was trying to boost sales by offering cheap loans through Astra's vehicle financing arm, Astra Credit Co.

Sales of cars and trucks in Indonesia slumped 43 percent in February, after a 41 percent drop in January, battered by fuel prices that more than doubled after the government cut subsidies last October.

Toyota Astra Motor, jointly owned by PT Astra International Tbk and Toyota Motor Corp., distributes Toyota cars in Southeast Asia's largest economy.

Astra, controlled by Singapore's Jardine Cycle&Carriage Ltd., is the country's largest automotive distributor.

Indonesia's interest rates have risen amid efforts to curb inflation and support the rupiah currency under pressure from higher fuel prices -- pushing up the cost of vehicle loans and further discouraging consumers from buying cars.

Jody reacted cautiously to remarks from the central bank that rates may be trimmed sooner than expected, and still sees the 2006 second half as a likely timeframe for a sales recovery.

The central bank has hiked its reference, or BI rate from 11 percent in October to 12.75 percent currently.

Gaikindo has estimated total vehicle sales will fall around 16 percent this year to 450,000 units from last year's record 533,910 units.

REUTERS PV RN1126