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JAKARTA: When Mr Prabowo Subianto arrived for his inauguration at the Indonesian parliament complex in Jakarta on Oct 20, he was seen using a white Toyota Alphard multi-purpose vehicle (MPV). But by the time he emerged as Indonesia’s eighth president, a different ride was waiting for him at the lobby: a Maung Garuda. With its imposing size and boxy shape, the white tactical sport utility vehicle (SUV) – dubbed the RI1 – looked more at home in combat zones than the busy streets of Jakarta. The resemblance comes as no surprise as the Maung Garuda is produced by Pindad, a state-owned company that makes weapons, armaments and tactical vehicles for the Indonesian military and police force. Mr Prabowo has made the Maung Garuda his presidential car and a week after he took office, he instructed all ministers, vice-ministers, government agency chiefs and senior government officials to also make the SUV their official vehicle. The choice is a departure from the stretch Mercedes-Benz limousines used by previous presidents and the Toyota MPVs and SUVs favoured by ministers. Presidential spokesman Hasan Nasbi said on Oct 28 that Mr Prabowo, a former military general and defence minister, wanted his cabinet members to use locally-produced cars as opposed to imported ones. “(Mr Prabowo) is proud to be using Maung Garuda Limousine as his official car,” he said, as quoted by Detik news website. The president has also said that he wants Indonesia to be self-sufficient and push for a homegrown automotive industry, among other things. “To be honest, in my heart, I refuse to accept that the world’s fourth (most populous) nation, a nation blessed by God with tremendous (natural) wealth... cannot produce its own cars, cannot produce its own motorcycles, cannot produce its own computers,” Mr Prabowo told a regional leaders’ convention on the outskirts of Jakarta on Nov 7. One of Mr Prabowo’s campaign promises is to create 19 million jobs during his presidency and a way to do that is to boost Indonesia’s manufacturing sector. “A president prioritising the use of local brands is a positive step,” said Dr Tauhid Ahmad, a senior researcher at the Jakarta-based think tank Institute for Development of Economics and Finance (INDEF). “This is not only about national pride. Maximising the use of local brands can also invigorate the domestic industry and ultimately create a multiplier effect which spurs growth in multiple sectors.” Pindad has sourced 70 per cent of Maung components locally, according to Presidential Chief of Staff Anto Mukti Putranto, as quoted by news outlet The Jakarta Post. Remaining parts including the chassis, engine and base frame are sourced from foreign companies including South Korea’s Ssangyong, Japan’s Toyota and Germany’s Mercedes-Benz, it reported. Although electric vehicles (EVs) are catching on in Indonesia, the company mainly produces internal combustion engine military vehicles and does not have experience in making EVs. The road to a viable national car industry will be strewn with challenges, analysts warned, and many countries have tried and failed to build products that can compete with more established global brands. Can a munitions company with little experience in the car industry live up to these challenges? A HISTORY OF FAILED VENTURES Mr Prabowo is not the only Indonesian president with dreams of building a local car brand. Indonesia’s first president Sukarno, for example, established PT Industri Mobil Indonesia in 1962 with the goal of producing Indonesia’s first national car. However, before production began, Indonesia descended into a widespread civil unrest in 1965 which saw the killing of more than 500,000 members and sympathisers of the Indonesian Communist Party. Attempts to produce a national car were revived under Suharto, who in the 1990s offered tax exemptions for cars that were entirely built domestically. The move was panned both at home and abroad as Indonesian car brands that enjoyed the exemption were found to be rebranded versions of popular models developed by foreign companies. After Suharto stepped down in 1998, Indonesia made several attempts at producing a national car. Most stopped at the prototype stage. After Suharto, there has been very little support given to Indonesian companies developing their own cars, said Mr Bebin Djuana, an automotive industry expert. “These companies need the government’s support. If these companies are told to fend for themselves amid stiff competition from more established brands, they are done for,” said Mr Bebin, a retired car company executive who has written several books on Indonesia’s car industry. He said other countries have been giving local players anything from fiscal incentives and better access to loans and subsidies, to fast-tracking permit issuance and certification. They also created demand for the products before they successfully developed their national car industry. Malaysia, for example, provided RM13.9 billion (US$3.1 billion) in research and development grants, stimulus packages and tax incentives to Proton since its establishment between 1983 and 2017. These benefits allowed Proton to develop new models at prices lower than its competitors, which had to pay import taxes for fully assembled units or parts shipped from overseas. “Some countries give huge subsidies to first-time car owners if they buy local brands. Some governments buy the cars produced by local companies and use them as official cars and operational vehicles,” Mr Bebin told CNA. These government incentives remain available through regime changes, something that is missing in Indonesia, where leaders tend to focus on their own policies instead of continuing their predecessors’ legacies. “These countries remain consistent (in their support) particularly during the critical early stages of these local companies. Without (consistency) these companies would collapse and they would have to start from scratch,” Mr Bebin said. The Malaysian government continued to provide grants and tax incentives after Malaysian sovereign wealth fund Khazanah Nasional divested its Proton stake to conglomerate DRB-HICOM for RM1.29 billion in 2012. However, the benefits stopped after the latter sold its 49.9 per cent Proton stake to Chinese manufacturer Zhejiang Geely Automobile Holdings in 2017. Dr Tauhid of INDEF believed that Pindad will enjoy similar support from the Indonesian government. “As a state-owned company, it will have the full support of the government in terms of regulatory protection (from competition) and various incentives. It will have access to government funding or low interest loans from state-owned banks,” he said. “This is what sets Pindad apart from private companies of the past which tried to develop their own car brands.” It is still not clear what financial support Indonesia will provide to Pindad, which can currently only produce a small batch of several thousand cars a year, in order to become a well-established car brand. “The government needs to formulate a long-term strategy to help Pindad grow. So far, we haven’t seen such a strategy,” Dr Tauhid said. COMPLEX CHALLENGES But government support alone does not guarantee success in the cut-throat automotive business. “Building a car involves a complex supply chain of parts and raw material. It involves acquiring cutting-edge technologies and production techniques which may be patented,” said Dr Piter Abdullah, director of the think tank Segara Research Institute. Building a car also takes years of research and development, he continued, and such workers need to be attracted with big salaries and bonuses. Vietnam’s VinFast was able to overcome these challenges because it has the backing of the country’s biggest conglomerate Vingroup and its founder, Vietnam’s richest man Pham Nhat Vuong. Since its inception in 2017, VinFast has received capital injections totalling US$13.5 billion from its parent company, Mr Vuong and his affiliates. VinGroup has pledged to invest US$3.4 billion more over the next two years. The huge investment allowed the company to become a key player in Vietnam’s electric car market in a short period of time. The company also expanded its reach beyond the domestic market and now has a presence in North America, Europe and several Asian countries. But even after the investment and aggressive expansion, VinFast is still operating at a loss. According to a December 2023 filing with the United States’ Security Exchange Commission, the Nasdaq-listed company reported net losses of US$2.4 billion last year, up 14.7 per cent from 2022. Losing money is a risk Indonesia has to take if it wants to realise its national car ambition through a munitions company with little experience in selling consumer vehicles. “It is not easy to build a car that sells, especially given the fact that it has to compete with other foreign brands which have dominated the market for decades,” Mr Bebin said. To do this, Pindad must either recruit people with deep understanding of what the mass market wants, or partner with more established manufacturers. Before a 49.9 per cent stake of Malaysia’s Proton was sold to Chinese manufacturer Geely in 2017, it engaged in manufacturing and components sharing partnership with Mitsubishi and a co-branding deal with Suzuki. Meanwhile, Malaysia’s second national car manufacturer Perodua is currently partnering with Daihatsu for the production and sales of one of its compact SUV models. BABY STEPS There are only four Maung Garuda SUVs roaming Indonesia’s streets today: Two belonging to Mr Prabowo and two used by vice-president Gibran Rakabuming Raka. The presidential vehicles are equipped with an armoured body capable of stopping a 7.62mm round and a set of anti-flat tires along other amenities such as two 12-inch flat screen televisions and electric footsteps for easy access. According to Pindad’s website, the Maung Garuda weighs 2.9 tonnes. It is 5.1 metres long, 2 metres wide and 1.8 metres tall. Its 2.5-litre engine is capable of producing 199 horse power with a top speed of 100kph. It is not known how much the vehicle costs, although several media outlets predicted that the presidential version should cost at least 1.2 billion rupiah (US$75,310). It is not known if Pindad is keeping the same specification for the 10,000 or so cars to be produced for ministers and senior government officials. Pindad president director Abraham Mose said he is grateful Mr Prabowo has chosen the Maung Garuda as the official vehicle for himself and his officials. “President Prabowo Subianto has shown his commitment to local industry by providing Pindad with the opportunity to enter the automotive industry,” Mr Abraham said in a statement on Nov 3. On top of the 10,000 units commissioned by the presidential office, the defence ministry has also placed an order of 4,600 Maung Garuda vehicles for its operational needs. Indonesia’s state-owned enterprises minister Erick Thohir said at its current production capacity, it would take Pindad two years to meet these orders. “(Pindad’s) production line needs managing,” he said on Nov 3, as quoted by CNBC Indonesia, adding that the government is ready to give Pindad what it needs to upgrade its production capacity. While the orders will keep Pindad busy for the next two years, Pindad needs to constantly improve its product if it wants to one day sell its vehicles to the general public. The Maung Garuda is its only civilian car model, while the rest of its line-up comprises specialised military and police vehicles with thick metal platings and machine gun mounts and turrets. In March, Detik reported that Pindad had struck a deal with a Jakarta-based car dealership to exclusively sell the Maung Garuda but it is not yet known when the SUV will be available to the general public. The only other Indonesian car brand in production today is Solo Manufaktur Kreasi, better known as Esemka. The company produces vans and small pick-up trucks which are rebrands of China’s Shangan and Shineray. “Pindad will get feedback from their users on what features to add or how their product compares to Japanese or European cars. With improvements and adjustments, Pindad will in time be ready to enter the public market,” Dr Tauhid of INDEF said. “But first, it needs to keep making cars and be profitable, and the government needs to keep the orders coming.”Next season, Toni Breidinger is moving up to the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. With support from Toyota and Tricon Garage, she’s ready for the next step. Breidinger takes over the No. 5 Toyota Tundra in 2025 and has high hopes, but realistic expectations. The 2024 season in the ARCA Menards Series did not produce a win. For the most part, the usually dominant Venturini Motorsports entries lacked speed compared to Rev Racing, Joe Gibbs Racing, and Pinnacle Racing Group. Toni Breidinger has impressed on and off the track, though. Her social media following is the largest in the sport. She has a national campaign with Raising Cane’s. When she isn’t on the track, Breidinger is appearing in Sports Illustrated’s Swimsuit issue and walking the pink carpet with Victoria’s Secret. But it is her 2025 season that she is looking forward to the most. A full-time NASCAR national series season. “I’m definitely excited for that next step,” Breidinger told 5 GOATs in a recent interview. “Obviously, there is going to be a learning curve with it but Toyota’s been super supportive, and I’ve been preparing and like, grinding pretty hard during the offseason.” One of her closest partners in the last few years has been Celsius. The energy drink brand has backed Breidinger in ARCA and the Truck Series. “Definitely long days, a little bit chaotic, but that’s what Celsius is for, it gets me through it. I’m excited for the offseason and this coming season. I feel like this is a good time for me to prepare and get dialed in and be ready to go when the season starts.” Always remaining optimistic Toni Breidinger is almost always optimistic. When you speak with her, it’s never about the bad things going on, it’s about the good. Not how she is messing up but how she is going to improve. Don’t mistake her optimism for naivety. She knows the challenges ahead. “I’m definitely expecting the season to be tough, I think there’s going to be a lot of challenges. But I think [one goal] for me is resilience. “I know I’m going to be facing challenges and I know I’m going to have to adapt to situations very quickly and learn a lot on the fly. So, I think for me, just being resilient, being a sponge, soaking everything up, and hopefully, [I can] get Rookie of the Year at the end of the season.” Rookie of the Year is a tall task. Tricon Garage will have her in good equipment, though. And she has a previous relationship with the organization, making her limited starts in the Truck Series with the No. 1 team. Corey Heim has been a friend and mentor of sorts this year. Heim just won six races for Tricon, the most in the series, in 2024. He also spotted for Breidinger in an ARCA race. She hopes that relationship with her teammate will help her in 2025. “I want to know his thought processes because obviously he’s so good and it seems everything comes to him so naturally,” Breidinger said. “So, I’m always like, ‘Corey, how do you do it?’ But I always bug him with a bunch of questions and he’s been super helpful for me.” Corey can help Toni on the track. Maybe she can give him some pointers on how to increase his social media followers. Toni Breidinger the social media star Over the last few seasons, Toni Breidinger has built a brand for herself. She is not the usual NASCAR driver and it has nothing to do with gender. Breidinger is young, embraces social media, and attends fashion shows and New York events. She isn’t racing on Sunday and living in a cabin in the woods Monday through Friday. That isn’t a distraction from racing. It doesn’t take away from her job behind the wheel. It is part of her job. “Thankfully, I do enjoy doing all the side hustles and traveling and going to different events and working on social media,” Breidinger explained. “But it all ties together and, yeah, it’s interesting when drivers say they want to just focus on racing because I’m like, how are you guys paying your bills? “Honestly. Because I wouldn’t be able to race without my partners and I want to do a good job for them on and off the track. So, it’s super important for me to be able to balance all of that.” Toni Breidinger is doing the work off the track. She has the brand, the sponsors, and a full-time ride. Now she has to show that the work will translate to on the track. The No. 5 truck finished 20th and 16th in the last two seasons. There is definitely room for improvement if Breidinger can adapt quickly. We will soon see just how far the driver/model/social media personality can take her new team. This article first appeared on 5 GOATs and was syndicated with permission.map genie 。

SMALLRIG AWARDS LAUNCHES THE GLOBAL FILMMAKER TALK SERIES WITH 2024 CANNES BEST DIRECTOR MIGUEL GOMES

Stormont minister Maurice Morrow told an official he would not raise the issue with the Northern Ireland Executive, despite similar measures being considered in England and Wales. A file on planning arrangements for the jubilee celebrations reveals a series of civil service correspondences on how Northern Ireland would mark the occasion. It includes a letter sent on January 11 2001 from an official in the Office of the First Minister/Deputy First Minister (OFMDFM) to the Department of Social Development, advising that a committee had been set up in London to consider a programme of celebrations. The correspondence says: “One of the issues the committee is currently considering is the possibility of deregulating liquor licensing laws during the golden jubilee celebrations on the same lines as the arrangements made for the millennium. “It is felt that the golden jubilee bank holiday on Monday 3 June 2002 is likely to be an occasion on which many public houses and similar licensed premises would wish to stay open beyond normal closing time.” The letter said a paper had been prepared on the issue of extending opening hours. It adds: “You will note that paragraph seven of the paper indicates that the devolved administrations ‘would need to consider deregulation separately within their own jurisdictions’. “I thought that you would wish to be aware that this issue is receiving active consideration for England and Wales and to consider whether anything needs to be done for Northern Ireland.” Some months later a “progress report” was sent between officials in OFMDFM, which again raised the issue of licensing laws. It says: “I spoke to Gordon Gibson, DSD, about Terry Smith’s letter of 12 January 2001 about licensing laws: the matter was put to their minister Maurice Morrow (DUP) who indicated that he would not be asking the NIE (Northern Ireland Executive) to approve any change to current licensing laws in NI to allow for either 24 hour opening (as at the millennium) nor a blanket approval for extended opening hours as is being considered in GB. “In both cases, primary legislation would be required here and would necessitate consultation and the minister has ruled out any consultation process.” The correspondence says individual licensees could still apply for an extension to opening hours on an ad hoc basis, adding “there the matter rests”. It goes on: “DSD await further pronouncements from the Home Office and Gibson and I have agreed to notify each other of any developments we become aware of and he will copy me to any (existing) relevant papers. “Ministers may well come under pressure in due course for a relaxation and/or parity with GB.” The document concludes “That’s it so far...making haste slowly?” Emails sent between officials in the department the same month said that lord lieutenants in Northern Ireland had been approached about local events to mark the jubilee. One message says: “Lord lieutenants have not shown any enthusiasm for encouraging GJ celebrations at a local level. “Lady Carswell in particular believes that it would be difficult for LLs to encourage such activities without appearing political.”

Sony Group and Honda Motor plan to start taking orders for their first electric vehicle after collaborating for two and a half years as two of Japan’s most renowned companies. Sony Honda Mobility (SHM) will show a prototype of its fully electric sedan called Afeela next month at the Consumer Technology Show (CES) 2025 in Las Vegas, Nevada. This announcement was made by Izumi Kawanishi, president and chief operating officer of SHM. To launch in the US SHM recently announced that they will be exhibiting at CES 2025 in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA, from January 7, 2025. Before the public exhibition, the JV will present at the Sony Group press conference on January 6. In addition, on January 7, SHM will hold its first solo press conference to present further details about the official launch of Afeela in 2025. The booth at CES 2025 will showcase the latest model updated towards its product launch. Through the vehicles on display and various visual contents, the latest initiatives and specifics on AFEELA’s concept of “Autonomy (evolving autonomy), Augmentation (extension of the body, time and space) and Affinity (affinity with people, and coexistence with society)” will be introduced. The brand “Afeela,” which aims to “redefine the relationship between people and mobility,” is scheduled to launch its first mass-produced EV model in 2025, with deliveries expected to start in 2026. Sony, Honda’s first electric sedan The sedan will be all-wheel drive and powered by two electric motors, one on each axle, producing 241 horsepower. A combined horsepower rating has not been released, but an electric sedan with the potential to make over 400 horsepower has caught our attention. The company says the sedan will ride on an air-spring suspension system and a staggered tire setup with wider rubber in the rear. A 91.0-kWh battery pack is sandwiched under the Afeela’s floorboards, but we are still determining the car’s range estimate. The company claims it can charge up to 150 KW at fast chargers. Peeking inside the Afeela EV sedan reveals a U-shaped yoke-style steering wheel—seemingly inspired by the Tesla Model S Plaid—among several futuristic elements. The cabin glows with ambient lighting, and we can see a rotary controller ahead of the center armrest that allows us to access the car’s entirely digital dashboard. The general layout is simple and clean, and the cabin seems spacious for a sedan, but we won’t know more until closer to the car’s on-sale date. The official range of the sedan still needs to be unveiled, but it could be between 250 miles and 275 miles on a single charge. In addition, SHM has decided to introduce Ridevu, an in-car entertainment service developed for the automotive industry by Sony Pictures Entertainment, as an offering for Afeela in the US. SHM is committed to pursuing mobility as a creative entertainment space. With the introduction of RIDEVU, customers can enjoy hundreds of feature films from Sony Pictures Entertainment’s premium content library and stream them whenever they want by purchasing or renting through the application. As a Mobility Tech Company that connects diverse inspirations and pursues cutting-edge technology, SHM will realize innovations in mobility that affect people’s sensibilities and behavior.Trimble and Mallon sanctioned DUP ministers over rotation plan