A company statement last week said Mazda was experiencing a global resurgence in both sales and profitability and saw Indonesia as important to its growth plans in the Asean region.

In the third quarter of 2006, PT Mazda Motor Indonesia, wholly owned by Mazda Motor Corp, is scheduled to begin operations and commence retail sales. The new distribution company is also planning to showcase its launch models at the Indonesia International Motor Show in July. Visitors to the show will see various models in Mazda's range, including the Mazda3, Mazda6, B-series pickup and RX-8.

Sales-network planning is under way with PT Mazda Motor Indonesia having recently appointed its first dealership in Jakarta, PT Wahana Auto Ekamarga. A major shareholder of the new dealership is the Wearnes International Group, a publicly listed, Singapore-based company that distributes several of Ford's Premier Automotive Group brands such as Jaguar and Volvo in other markets. The Wearnes International Group runs a number of Mazda dealerships in Thailand.

The managing director of Mazda Southeast Asia Ltd, Will Angove, said, "Mazda is excited about entering a partnership in the Indonesian market with a well-established organisation like the  Wearnes International Group, which has extensive experience in the retail side of the motor industry."

Darwin Maspolim, managing director of the new Mazda Jakarta Barat dealership, said, "We are excited to be the first dealership appointed by Mazda in Jakarta. We look forward to fostering this relationship for many years to come."

Mazda plans to roll out a nationwide network in the next few years. In addition to Wearns, a letter of intent has been issued to dealer applicants in both Pekanbaru and Kalimantan.

PT Mazda Motor Indonesia will be holding a corporate press conference at the end of June to give more details of Mazda's corporate strategy for Indonesia.