Suzuki Motor to build new Indonesia engine plant

Japan's Suzuki Motor Corp. said Wednesday it would build a new engine factory in Indonesia in a bid to help boost output of small cars in the fast-growing Southeast Asian market. The car and motorcycle maker has spent 10 billion yen ($130 million) on a 1.3 million square-metre (14 million square-foot) site in an industrial park outside Jakarta for its third Indonesian factory, Dow Jones Newswires said. The Nikkei business daily separately said Suzuki's total investment in the project would reach 30 billion yen. The daily also said the investment is part of the company's efforts to boost its production capacity in Indonesia to 150,000 vehicles from the current 120,000. Auto sales in Indonesia jumped by about 60 percent from a year earlier to around 760,000 vehicles in 2010, the Nikkei said, adding that Indonesia likely became the biggest auto market in Southeast Asia last year. Immediate confirmation of the reports was not available as the company was closed for the extended New Year holiday.