TOKYO — Koito Manufacturing, a leading maker of automotive lighting, plans to boost production capacity at a plant in Indonesia by 50%. In operation since 2011, the Indonesia plant is now stretched to capacity, making 1 million headlights and 300,000 rear lights a year, mostly for autos. To keep up with the aggressive production plans…

Automaker to beef up sales operations in key growth market MANILA — Mitsubishi Motors plans to broaden its dealership network by 20% and double its maintenance staff across the Philippines, Indonesia and Thailand by 2020, aiming to hone its edge in a region with bright growth prospects. Dealerships in the Philippines will increase from 48…

Leading Japanese brands’ domination hits 73% market share JAKARTA — Japanese car maker Honda Motor jumped to the No. 2 position in Indonesia’s auto sales last year, shouldering out Daihatsu Motor, which had been the runner-up for seven years in a row. Honda sold 199,000 units throughout 2016, slightly more than half of the sales…

Partnership aims to tap fast-growing market for Japanese tourism TOKYO — JTB announced Tuesday a capital and business tie-up with Indonesia’s biggest travel agency, seeking to make inroads into a promising market as well as further its global ambitions. The Japanese travel company will spend several billion yen for a 40% stake in Panorama Tours…

Japanese trading house counts on information, communications technology SINGAPORE — Japanese trading house Mitsui & Co. looks to tap into Southeast Asia’s booming retail market using information and communications technology, President and CEO Tatsuo Yasunaga told the Nikkei Asian Review in a recent interview here. Yasunaga wants to explore new tools for information and communications technology, or ICT, in…

Japanese company targets sweet tooth of country’s rising middle class TOKYO — Indonesia’s growing middle class and its fondness for Western food has prompted Japanese food company Nisshin Oillio Group to start producing chocolate in the country. Daito Cacao, a unit of Nisshin Oillio, embarked on a joint venture in February with Salim Ivomas Pratama, a cacao…