Economic analysts and industry insiders say there is no immediate salvation visible and giants like Astra International and Indomobil Sukses Internasional face tough times for the foreseeable future.

Gaikindo, the Association of Indonesian Automotive Industries, said sales were likely to fall to 60,000 units this year from about 390,000 in 1997 and there was little hope for 1999.

``Next year's sales depends on economic growth,'' said Gaikindo secretary general F Soeseno. ``Usually, if there's GDP growth of one per cent, car sales go up by about three per cent.''

The government has said GDP will fall by about 10 per cent this year as the plunge in the rupiah and the unstable political situation take their toll on the economy.

A Reuters poll of 10 Jakarta brokerages, however, found the averageforecast was for a 14.45 per cent contraction in the economy and a further 5.1 per cent contraction in 1999.

That could imply a further fall in car sales from the current unprofitable levels.

``You are looking for signs of the prospect of at least a halt to the economic downturn before any of these companies become a reasonable prospect,'' said associate director Andre Cita with Bahana Securities.

``If the economy isn't going anywhere then none of the auto companies are going to go very far either.''

Falling sales, huge dollar-denominated debt and fading margins have hit the industry hard.

But there is some hope on the horizon for Astra, which is the country's largest automobile manufacturer and has a tie-up with Toyota Motor Corp.

The company has been hit by huge foreign exchange losses, and analysts say the performance of the share price will be closely linked to the fortunes of the beleaguered rupiah, currently stuck below 11,500 to the dollar.

But after news that creditor banks had agreed toreschedule Indonesia's mammoth $80 billion private-sector debt, there was a chance that Astra would get much-needed breathing space to put its house in order, analysts said.

``Given Astra's close relationship with Toyota, it could receive a good arrangement on its debt,'' said Stephen Rogers, a Jakarta-based business analyst.

``All the bad news is already in the price,'' he added. ``On a six-month view it's a sell but on a longer view, it could be worth picking up.''

Astra closed at 1,025 rupiah on Monday, although it was off the year-low of 825 rupiah it reached in mid-May as riots rocked Jakarta and president Suharto stepped down after 32 years in power. It was unchanged on Tuesday morning.

``Astra looks like it should survive,'' said Cita. ``After the debt deal, they are at least back on life-support.'' But the news is not so good for Indomobil, which is a member of the Salim Group. The conglomerate has run into rough times since its banking arm, Bank Central Asia, was taken over by a state rescueagency following a run on its deposits. Conglomerate head Liem Sioe Liong was a close associate of Suharto and the former president's departure has put immense pressure on the entire group.

Indomobil posted a net loss of 403.75 billion rupiah in 1977 and laid off more than 4,000 employees in March as its production dwindled.

The company's shares are rarely traded -- the last time was in March -- as almost all are held by Salim Group.

Brokers said the outlook for the company was bleak, at least in the short term.

``Even the profitable Salim Group companies are facing a sell-off at the moment because of political uncertainty.Indomobil isn't even making a profit,'' one broker said.