Carmall.com - Irrefutably, one of the attraction centres in the 2012 IIMS that opened the floodgate of visitors to the event, which closed its curtain on Sunday (30/9), is the presence of the Daihatsu Ayla. The projection towards this collaborative brainchild of Toyota, Daihatsu and Astra International, is that it may become a powerful ammunition in making Indonesia's car market ASEAN's largest in the coming 2013.

Additionally, the Daihatsu Ayla (and its twin, the Toyota Agya) has become influential in moving motorcycle users to cars. It's no secret that this affordable-car project has appealed to the masses with consumers in India, our similarly large-population neighbouring country, to make that shift for four-wheelers.

Unfortunately, at least to the date of the publication of this news, the government's regulation on LCGC (low cost green car) has not been decided, rendering Daihatsu Ayla's market-launch possibility still unclear. "According to the plan, provided that the LCGC issue has been decided upon, we've prepared four Daihatsu Ayla variants for consumers with a price range from Rp70 million to Rp105 million," revealed Amelia Tjandra to CarMall.com on last Thursday (27/9) at Daihatsu's Booth in the 2012 IIMS.

The total investment allocated for the development of the Agya and Ayla duo is also no trivial amount, around Rp2.1 trillion. Also, its birth process was based on comprehensive details, including a lengthy research by PT Astra Daihatsu Motor since 2009 in seven major cities in Indonesia.

The research concluded that the good response towards city cars continues to increase every year. "Briefly described, the average survey participants in those seven cities wants a city car that offers a spacious boot, 5-passenger capacity, affordable price, as well as small turning radius, considering the many narrow roads in Indonesia, and high ground clearance," Amelia Tjandra added.

A shift of preference amongst the survey participants, from 7-seater family cars to 5-seaters, was also indicated in the research, namely that the third row seats were hardly used in their typical daily needs. Third row seats are usually used during recreational and homecoming travels, which are rare occassions. In fact, a once-a-year occassion.

Interestingly, the Ayla is the work of one of our own, which succeeded in eliminating several other candidates from more advanced nations. For the complete story, read The Story Behind the Making of the Agya and Ayla.

"Yes, we are very proud of that. And because of this achievement, next year, PT Astra Daihatsu Motor will be inaugurating a design house at our new factory," closed Amelia Tjandra.

Well, if that's the case, those who are interested in getting their own Ayla may very well hope that our government decides on the LCGC policy soon.