Jakarta. Senior minister Airlangga Hartarto revealed Friday that the South Korean automaker Hyundai was keen on taking part in the nascent national car project, although the details of this possible partnership remained scarce.

Prabowo is now in South Korea for the closely watched Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit.

Prior to Prabowo’s arrival on Thursday night, Airlangga had met with some Korean business leaders in hopes of bringing home some fresh investment commitments. One of those investors was Sung Kim, a former diplomat and the president of Hyundai Motors.

The talks came not long after Prabowo unveiled his target of having Indonesia mass-produce cars of its own within three years from now. A readout of the meeting by the Coordinating Ministry for Economic Affairs signalled that the discussions with Hyundai, particularly on the freshly announced national car project, had gone well.

“Hyundai has shown strong interest in participating in the national car development project that the government is working on,” the press statement reads.

“This collaboration will cement Indonesia as an epicentrum of the automotive industry’s growth in Southeast Asia.”

There was also mention of hydrogen-powered cars, which Ailangga said could help drive Indonesia’s energy transition and green economy. The economic chief stated: “We see huge opportunity in a partnership on developing cars that run on hydrogen and other clean energy sources.”

Again, the Indonesian side reported that Hyundai was open to partnering on hydrogen mobility.

Hyundai’s operations in Indonesia centers in its manufacturing plant in Cikarang. The company is partnering with the Seoul-based LG Energy Solution and local firm Indonesia Battery Corporation (IBC) to build Southeast Asia’s first battery cell factory for electric vehicles in the West Javan regency of Karawang.

According to automotive industry association Gaikindo, Hyundai was the tenth most popular car brand for nationwide wholesales as of July 2025, just behind the Chinese automaker Chery. Hyundai did not make it to the top 10 for retail sales.

Prabowo brought up his national car dream when he led a cabinet meeting that marked his first year in office. 

"We will have Indonesian-made cars within three years from now. I have allocated the funds. We've prepared the land for the manufacturing facilities. The team is working on it now,” Prabowo said on Oct. 20.

The government is even mulling assigning the so-called strategic national project, or PSN, status to the upcoming car development. A PSN status means greater government support, including fast-tracked licensing and land acquisition. South Korea was Indonesia’s seventh-biggest foreign investor in 2024. Almost $3 billion worth of foreign investment inflows had come from South Korea that year, government data showed.

The Oct. 20 cabinet meeting saw Prabowo instructing his ministers to switch their fancy rides to Maung, the 4x4 vehicle made by the arms producer Pindad. A unit of the non-armored, civilian version has a price tag of between Rp 400 million and Rp 500 million ($24,043-$30,054).

Finance Minister Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa told reporters that the government had already readied the cash to make the orders for Prabowo’s giant cabinet, without going into detail on how big the budget was. However, the government has to wait until Pindad’s production capacity is capable of completing such a large order.

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