The Business Times
business-time-50
Asean Business logo
SPONSORED BYUOB logo

Jakarta pulls plug on EV import perks, raising stakes for Chinese auto giants

Imported battery EVs account for about 64% of Indonesia’s total EV sales; ending incentives could hurt demand

Summarise
google-preferred-sourceAdd BT as a preferred source
Elisa Valenta

Elisa Valenta

Published Thu, Sep 25, 2025 · 12:20 PM
    • Denza, BYD’s premium marque, has gained rapid traction in Indonesia, selling more than 6,500 units since its January debut and capturing a 1% market share within just a few months.
    • Denza, BYD’s premium marque, has gained rapid traction in Indonesia, selling more than 6,500 units since its January debut and capturing a 1% market share within just a few months. PHOTO: DERRYN WONG, BT

    [JAKARTA] Indonesia will scrap tax incentives for battery electric vehicles (EVs) that are imported, starting from January 2026. The move could hurt Chinese EV makers’ momentum in South-east Asia’s largest economy, where they still rely heavily on imports to build brand presence.

    The move could also weigh on Indonesia’s auto sector, which is already grappling with softer sales amid weakening consumer demand.

    The country has two different schemes for EVs – one for domestically assembled models and another for fully built-up imports. Locally produced EVs benefit from a significantly lower tax burden.

    IndonesiaAsia-PacificElectric vehiclesBYDTransport

    TRENDING NOW

    The new vehicles will comprise a mix of fully electric and hybrid models, including the BYD Seal 6 DM-i.

    ComfortDelGro’s Zig to buy S$10 million worth of BYD cars for private-hire fleet

    StarHub’s H1 Ebitda – excluding Ensign, a cybersecurity joint venture with Temasek – fell 23.8% for the period ended Jun 30.

    Singapore telco price war squeezes earnings, strengthens case for StarHub-M1 deal, say analysts

    Sats posted a S$75.1 million net profit for Q1, up 6% from S$70.9 million in the same year-ago period.

    Sats slides 13.6% as investors dump shares on profit-margin squeeze

    Handled passively, satellite connectivity becomes a service that the telco distributes, while somebody else sets the economics.

    When every phone becomes a satellite phone, what happens to Asia’s telcos?

    Latest T-bills Treasury Bills Results & Interest NewsLatest SSB Singapore Savings Bonds NewsLatest COE Certificate of Entitlement News
    Latest Johor-Singapore SEZ NewsLatest BTO Build To Order & Sales of Balance NewsLatest STI Straits Times Index NewsLatest SGX Dividends, Share Price NewsLatest Bonds Market NewsLatest Singapore Stocks To Buy NewsLatest Singapore Economy News
    View More