Hundreds of completely built-up cars ready for export at Tanjung Priok Port in Jakarta. (Antara/Akbar Nugroho Gumay)

Jakarta. Industry Minister Agus Gumiwang Kartasasmita said on Thursday that Indonesia's vehicle exports have been on an upward trend since 2018, even overcoming a sluggish global automotive industry last year.

"Our export performance in the automotive industry last year was very positive. We exported 332,000 CBU [Completely Built Up] units in 2019, up 25.5 percent from the previous year," Agus said in Jakarta.

Meanwhile, exports of CKD (Completely Knocked Down) vehicles reached 511,000 kits, an increase of 523.5 percent from 2018.

According to Agus, the commercial vehicle market in 2019 was faced with many challenges. One of them was a slowdown in the national economy due to continuing global uncertainties and a current account deficit experienced by the government.

Production of buses, trucks and pickup trucks in 2019 fell 16.2 percent from 2018 to 241,000 units. Domestic sales in 2019 also fell 10.8 percent to only 232,000 units.

However, Agus remains optimistic the domestic automotive industry might still be able to help the government reduce the trade balance deficit by increasing exports, and at the same time meeting President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo's vehicle export target.

"Seeing this positive trend, we've now set a target for the CBU vehicle export of 1 million units by 2024," Agus said.

Growth in the domestic automotive sector meanwhile is expected to rise to 6 percent by 2020.