Troubled national carmaker Proton will supply 3,000 Wira models to Indonesia for use as taxis in a fresh drive to boost exports.

The Wira taxis will be delivered in batches to several major cities, news agency Bernama quoted Dwi Sasetia, director of Proton's Indonesian subsidiary, as saying.

"It is a big vote of confidence in Proton cars by Indonesia's taxi drivers because taxis need to be tough and reliable to keep running round the clock on the busy streets," Dwi told Bernama .

He said taxis in Indonesia often had suffer "snarling traffic jams and uneven road surfaces" in many parts of its cities.

"So when owners evaluate vehicles to replace their taxi fleet, they make sure they get cars that can take the beating of Indonesia's streets," Dwi said.

"The Proton Wira is a natural choice given the length of time the model has been on Malaysia's own roads, which has similar weather conditions to Indonesia," he added.

Ahmad Tifli, Proton's head of exports in Malaysia, could not be reached for comment.

Fuel efficiency

Dwi said Proton's entry into the utility vehicles sector in Indonesia as taxi owners replace their old vehicles was timely.

"With the increase in fuel prices here in Indonesia, Proton's vehicles offer an attractive business proposition with fuel efficiency," he said.

The country also introduced a bylaw in 2005 mandating the use of natural gas in public transport vehicles and official government vehicles.

Proton has a headstart as the majority of taxis in Malaysia, which are the carmaker's Iswara model, operate on liquefied petroleum gas.

Proton first introduced its Saga model in Indonesia in 1990. It also has an assembly plant at the Cikarang Industrial Park east of Jakarta with a capacity of 50,000 cars per year.

Proton has two manufacturing base within the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations, a condition that qualifies it for full tax breaks under a regional industrial tariff scheme.