Timor

The Timor, meant to become the national car  of Indonesia, was sold there in the mid-1990s. It was a rebadged version of the South Korean Kia Sephia, itself based on the Mazda 323/Familia.

It was intended fill a role similar to that of Malaysia's Mitsubishi Lancer based Proton, and as such was exempt from taxes and duties levied on other cars sold in the country. The full name of the company was PT Timor Putra Nasional, literally meaning "Timor, National Son" in Indonesian. The patriotic name was meant to remind Indonesians of the importance of East Timor.

The Timor itself proved controversial, because unlike the Proton Saga it was not assembled in Indonesia when first released. Instead, it was imported completely built-up from South Korea, to the annoyance of companies like Toyota, which had undergone considerable expenses to produce vehicles in Indonesia. The Timor, in return for promising future exports and 60% local content within three years of starting production in Indonesia, avoided the taxes and duties that added 60% to the price of other imported cars. This cosy deal led to accusations of nepotism and cronyism, as the project was the brainchild of Hutomo 'Tommy' Mandala Putra, son of the then President Suharto. A welter of complaints and the threat of a WTO lawsuit followed.

45,000 cars a year were planned, but with the Asian financial crisis in 1997 came the collapse of Kia. Combined with the 1998 demise of the Suharto regime, the Timor project was abandoned. In 2000, Kia briefly considered reviving the Timor as the "Kalla".