Policy to Market Take-off: A Strategic Entry Roadmap for Indonesia’s Electric Vehicle Industry

Issa Ahmed; Vololoniaina Sarah Laurence

Policy to Market Take-off: A Strategic Entry Roadmap for Indonesia’s Electric Vehicle Industry

Authors

Issa Ahmed Faculty of Economics and Business, Universitas Indonesia, Indonesia
Vololoniaina Sarah Laurence Faculty of Economics and Business, Universitas Indonesia, Indonesia

Keywords:

Electric Vehicles, Market Entry, Local Content (TKDN), Charging Infrastructure, Consumer Preferences, Nickel

Abstract

Indonesia’s electric vehicle (EV) ecosystem has moved rapidly from policy intent to early market take-off, driven by regulations, fiscal incentives, and investment in charging infrastructure and battery value chains. Yet adoption remains shaped by acute price sensitivity, uneven charging coverage, and progressively stricter local-content (TKDN) rules. This article develops a strategic market-entry roadmap for PT ISVO, a hypothetical start-up targeting Indonesia’s four-wheeler battery EV segment. Using a qualitative synthesis of Indonesia’s regulatory instruments, policy and market reports, and Indonesia-focused scholarship on consumer behaviour, adoption barriers, and nickel-based industrial policy, the analysis connects the incentive and governance architecture to demand conditions and operational constraints. The paper’s central contribution is to translate this regulatory–market evidence into a staged entry logic that specifies how a new entrant can sequence geographic rollout, pricing, localisation, and ESG risk management, thereby moving beyond studies that examine policy, adoption, or industrial strategy in isolation. The article concludes that Indonesia’s regulatory development has materially reduced entry uncertainty for capable new players, but that commercial viability depends on disciplined execution across affordability, charging access, after-sales service, localisation, and nickel governance. The lessons are relevant not only for Indonesia, but also for resource-rich Asia–Africa economies designing EV industrial strategies.

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Policy to Market Take-off: A Strategic Entry Roadmap for Indonesia’s Electric Vehicle Industry