TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Astra International recorded a decrease in the number of sales for the January-April 2015 period. According to the company's data, which was released last week, car sales dropped by 20 percent while motorcycle sales dropped by 14 percent.

The sales decrease applies for all brands distributed by Astra, including, Toyota, Daihatsu, Isuzu, Peugeot, and UD Trucks, and Honda motorcycles.

For the January-April 2015 period, Astra recorded a total of 183,000 units of car sales, significantly lower compares to the 230,000 units recorded in January-April 2014.The company's motorcycle sales also dropping from the previous 1.69 million units in January-April 2014 to 1.46 units in January-April 2015.

The sales decrease occurred in line with the declining industrial sector performance. Domestic car sales in January-April 2015 period drops by 16 percent to 363,945 units. Similarly, motorcycle sales dropped by 21.1 percent to 2.12 million units in January-April 2015.

Hans Kwee, an analyst from PT Investa Saran Mandiri, said that the automotive industry was experiencing a downturn because the public’s purchasing power was decreasing as fuel prices continue to increase. The low economic growth of 4.7 percent in Q1 of 2015 was also claimed as the main indicator of the decreasing sales of main commodities, including vehicles.

ADITYA BUDIMAN