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The story
Founded by William Soeryadjaya in 1957.1
Astra was originally founded in the 1950s by Tjia Kian Liong (William Soeryadjaya), Tjia Kian Tie, and Liem Peng Hong (E. Hardiman). In its early years, the company operated from a shop at Jalan Sabang No. 36A (now Jalan Haji Agus Salim), Jakarta. The name "Astra" was proposed by Kian Tie, Kian Liong's younger brother, derived from the Latin word for "star." The three founders registered PT Astra International Inc. through notary Sie Khwan Djioe on 20 February 1957, with an initial capital of IDR2.5 million.
In its early years, the company operated as a distributor and importer of Prim Club corned beef and CIP brand soft drinks, in addition to local products from Bandung including toothpaste brands. Other business activities included the shipment of aluminium phosphate and light bulbs, and the export of copra and cooking oil. Over time, full ownership was transferred to Kian Liong alone.
During Indonesia's Guided Democracy period under President Sukarno, between 1962 and 1964, Astra served as a local supplier for the Jatiluhur Dam development project. In 1965, amid challenging economic conditions, Kian Liong relocated Astra's office from Jalan Sabang to Jalan Juanda III No. 8. In 1966, Astra became the importer of 80,000 tonnes of asphalt from Marubeni, Japan, to support road construction projects. The company also secured a US$2.9 million loan from USAID to finance truck imports from the United States. However, due to violation of aid conditions, Astra was subsequently barred from importing trucks from General Motors.
In 1969, Astra shifted its business focus toward Japan. Hideo Kamio, a former manager at Gaya Motor during the Japanese occupation era, strongly advocated that Toyota trucks entering Indonesia should be assembled at Gaya Motor, which was already under William's ownership. Through PT Gaya Motor, Astra subsequently became the sole distributor of Toyota in Indonesia, later forming PT Toyota-Astra Motor (TAM) as a joint venture with Toyota Motor Corporation in 1971. TAM introduced the first Toyota Kijang in 1977, one of Indonesia's pioneering family vehicle models.
Starting in 1970, Astra was gradually appointed as the distributor of various Japanese products, becoming the sole distributor of Honda motorcycles in Indonesia. To support local manufacturing, Astra established PT Federal Motor (now PT Astra Honda Motor) in 1971 as a Honda motorcycle assembly plant. Astra entered the heavy equipment business through the establishment of PT United Tractors in 1972, and in 1973 was appointed sole distributor of Daihatsu products in Indonesia, leading to the establishment of PT Astra Daihatsu Motor in 1978.
In 1988, following banking deregulation, William Soeryadjaya and his son Edward established Bank Summa after acquiring Bank Agung Asia in 1989. The bank subsequently collapsed due to bad credit, and William sold a substantial portion of his Astra shares to a consortium of prominent business figures to compensate depositors. Astra later established Bank Universal, which also collapsed during the 1997 Asian financial crisis.
In 1990, Astra conducted its initial public offering (IPO) of 30 million shares on the Jakarta Stock Exchange (now the Indonesia Stock Exchange).
In the aftermath of the 1997 Asian financial crisis and the fall of Suharto, a 40% block of Astra shares was transferred to the Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency (BPPN), which subsequently auctioned them. Jardine Cycle & Carriage won the auction and currently holds 50.1% of Astra's shares.
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In 2004, Astra, in partnership with Standard Chartered Bank, acquired Bank Permata, formed through the merger of five banks previously supervised by the Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency. The combined ownership held by Astra and Standard Chartered Bank reached 89.12% from 2006 until 2020, when Standard Chartered completed its acquisition of Astra's stake.
In 2016, Astra entered the property sector as a new line of business. In 2019, Astra invested US$150 million in application-based on-demand service Gojek.
From Wikipedia’s article on Astra International, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.5