JAKARTA - MG Motor Indonesia emphasized its commitment to strengthening the electric vehicle market in Indonesia. This commitment was realized through the inauguration of the electric car battery assembly facility built with UABS Indonesia.

 

The assembly facility is located in Greenland International Industrial City (GIIC), Kota Deltamas, Cikarang, Bekasi, West Java. To realize this assembly line, the two companies injected investment worth IDR 110 billion.

 

"UABS investment reached 50 million yuan or around IDR 110.8 billion. We also see that President Prabowo really supports renewable energy. I am sure that Mr Prabowo can encourage the government to accelerate the development of energy and electric vehicle batteries in Indonesia," said Guo Junhua, Managing Director UABS Co. LTD, at the inauguration ceremony in Cikarang, West Java, Tuesday (4/11/2024).

This collaboration gave birth to a battery pack factory called PT Unified Advanced Battery System Indonesia (UABS). The factory shares are controlled by SAIC-CATL with a composition of 67 percent (SAIC 51 percent and CATL 49 percent), while the other 33 percent is owned by the Kentjana Group.

 

As an initial stage, the UABS factory will assemble batteries for Morris Garage (MG) vehicles which are under SAIC. This assembly process uses battery components supplied directly from CATL. Currently, the domestic content level (TKDN) for these batteries is still around 10 percent, but this will continue to be increased over time.

 

MG Motor Indonesia hopes that battery assembly in Indonesia can provide great benefits for consumers, especially in after-sales service. The existence of this factory will speed up the repair process if damage occurs to the electric car battery.

 

"The existence of this factory will be very helpful if the battery malfunctions or is damaged. Repairs will be much faster because the components are already available here," said He Guowei, CEO of MG Motor Indonesia.

 

Will MG Electric Car Prices Decrease?

With the battery assembly collaboration between MG Motor Indonesia and PT UABS Indonesia, the question arises as to whether this step will reduce the price of MG electric cars in Indonesia.

 

Currently, MG offers two electric car models, namely the MG4 EV and MG ZS EV, each of which is priced at around IDR 400 million. He Guowei, CEO of MG Motor Indonesia, stated that this assembly facility will indeed simplify the production process and reduce operational costs.

 

"There is a positive impact on production costs which can make our car prices more competitive than before," said Hu Gouwei in Cikarang, West Java.

 

However, the man who is familiarly called Alec emphasized that despite cost efficiencies, MG will not reduce the prices of the MG4 EV and MG ZS EV in the near future. He explained that price reductions can affect the perception of product value in the eyes of consumers.

"Consumers definitely like price wars, but all brands have their own calculations. If the price goes down, the value of the product could also decrease in the eyes of consumers. For now, we will not reduce prices, even though this is one of consumers' hopes," explained Alec.

 

This locally assembled battery is planned to be used in the latest MG model which will be launched in Indonesia. This facility allows MG to offer electric cars at more competitive prices.

 

"This factory will make our products more competitive. We will use these batteries for our new products, thereby increasing the value and competitiveness of products, not only in terms of price, but also quality," added Alec.

 

MG also plans to launch a number of new electric car models in the near future. With this facility, MG is optimistic that it can reduce the overall selling price of their electric vehicles.

(SOURCE)