Indonesia motorbike sales fall 36.8 pct y/y in Aug

JAKARTA, Sept 10 (Reuters) - Indonesia's domestic motorcycle
sales fell 36.8 percent in August from a year ago, the sharpest
decline this year, data from the Indonesian Motorcycle Industry
Association (AISI) showed on Monday.
August sales were 429,236 motorbikes, down 25.9 percent from
the previous month. S ales were led by Honda, Yamaha
and Suzuki, the association said.
Motorbike sales, an indicator of domestic consumption in
Southeast Asia's largest economy, have been slowing in 2012
after surging in recent years because of a higher downpayment
requirement that came into effect on June 15.
Previously a newly emerging middle class could buy
motorbikes mostly on credit, leading the central bank to worry
that rapid loan growth could lead to higher bad debts and an
overheating economy.
Purchases of cars by more wealthy middle class consumers
have stayed strong. Buoyant local consumption overall helped
Indonesia post robust economic growth of 6.4 percent in the
second quarter.
Following is a table of sales volumes, based on AISI data.
Month Volume m/m y/y
Aug 429,236 -25.9 -36.8
Jul 579,077 7.0 -21.5
Jun 541,918 -11.0 -17.7
May 611,250 -1.0 -13.5
Apr 617,508 -0.35 -12.4
Mar 619,678 -7.0 -12.8
Feb 666,136 3.1 9.2
Jan 645,863 40.2 -2.9

Dec 460,535 -28.3 -10.3
Nov 642,126 -10.2 -1.8
Oct 715,176 -0.9 2.9
Sep 721,764 6.3 50.6
Aug 679,052 -8.0 -7.3

(Reporting by Rieka Rahadiana; Editing by Neil Chatterjee)