The China-based automotive manufacturer Beiqi Foton Motor has revealed plans to set up an assembling plant in Indonesia to support its aim of increasing its business in the Asia Pacific market, Bisnis Indonesia magazine recently reported.

Dong Haiyang, Vice President of Beiqi Foton Motor Co. and general manager of Foton International Trade Co. Ltd., regards Indonesia as a main market in the Asia Pacific region, stating that Foton's investment in a production base in Indonesia would be an important strategic move within Foton's global business strategy. "Outside China and Indonesia, we now run assembly plants in Thailand,
Mexico and South Africa," Dong said during of a Foton MPV launching at the recently held 2009 Indonesia International Motor Show (IIMS). 

Foton is mainly targeting at the truck and bus export markets as a manufacturer, having set for itself realistic sales targets. "We set a target to secure two percent market share in our category within three years and improving to three percent in the following two years," Dong said. In Indonesia, the Beijing-based automotive manufacturer has setup cooperation with two domestic firms, PT Foton Mobilindo and PT Foton Indonesia that handle the sales and distribution of heavy trucks and buses in that country. Foton also allocated some 300,000 U.S. dollars to improving after sales services and the spare parts supplies to its Indonesian customers.