It was founded in 1957 by Tjia Kian Tie, Liem Pen Hong with the name of PT Astra International Incorporated.

[2] It is Southeast Asia's largest independent automotive group.

Operating predominantly in Indonesia, it is a provider of a full range of automobile and motorcycle products in partnerships with companies which include Toyota, Daihatsu, Isuzu, UD Trucks and BMW for automobiles, and Honda for motorcycles.

[3] In addition, Astra has interests in financial services; heavy equipment and mining; agribusiness; infrastructure and logistics; and information technology.

In 2019, Astra invested US$150 million in application-based, on-demand service Gojek.