Esemka awaits green light for mass production

JAKARTA. The Surakarta mayoralty heads are upbeat about the chances of the town’s automotive pride, the Esemka Rajawali sports utility car, of passing its emission and roadworthiness tests today, which are the final requirements needed in the certification process for a vehicle to enter mass production.

“As soon as we bag the vehicle-type test certificate, which we are sure we can obtain [Monday], we can start mass producing the cars within four to five months,” mayor Joko Widodo said Sunday.

The mayor, known as Jokowi, joined in the last leg of the car’s trip from Surakarta to Jakarta to have the Rajawali SUV prototype tested at the Thermodynamics, Motor and Propulsion Center in Serpong, South Tangerang, in Banten.

The results of the tests will determine whether the car can be mass-produced.

The car, which Jokowi uses to commute, is assembled by vocational high school (SMK) students in Surakarta.

Deputy Mayor FX Hadi Rudyatmo drove the van alternately with legislator Roy Suryo of the House of Representatives, whose constituency is in neighboring Yogyakarta.

With a big entourage comprising administration officials, students of SMKN 2 Surakarta who co-assembled the car, and the media; the car left Centra Java on Friday and covered the more than 600-kilometer journey to Jakarta in 12 hours. It arrived in the capital at noon on Saturday.

The entourage paid a visit to SMKN 2 in Kendal and SMKN 3 in Tegal to show off the car and conduct tests on the car’s strength and durability.

Hadi said that there were no mechanical problems during the drive. “[The van] could take on Korean and Japanese cars. Better still, it’s ours.”

He said that even though there was a technical glitch, this could be accepted because the car was “handmade”. “The manufacturer, PT Solo Manufaktur Kreasi [Esemka], employs many professionals. It works with 23 vocational schools and universities as well as hundreds of industries. The product will be the result of professional work,” Hadi said.

The SUV was also designed to consume less fuel. On the trip, the vehicle only consumed around 60 liters of high-octane Pertamax, or about one liter of fuel for every 12 kilometers. “We filled up the tank with 122 liters of fuel. The tank was still half full when we arrived in Jakarta,” said a SMKN 2 technician, who was one of the six passengers in Joko’s car.

Esemka has produced three models besides the Rajawali SUV: the double cabin Digdaya mini truck; the Zhangaro pick-up truck and the Esemka hatchback sedan. For the time being, however, Esemka only plans to mass produce the SUV, which would also come in a CNG version to adhere to the national policy on fuel saving.

According to Jokowi, Esemka would be able to produce 200 cars per month with prices starting from Rp 95 million (US$10,508) each.

“Although we already have taken orders from across the country, we are prioritizing the distribution, marketing, and after-sales in Surakarta before we’re expanding the business to Central Java and nationwide.” (Tertiani ZB Simanjuntak/ The Jakarta Post)