Iranian car companies produced 47,317 cars and commercial vehicles during the month ending Aug. 22, indicating a 47.1% decline.
The semi-official Fars News Agency reported that during the month, 43,758 passenger vehicles were produced in Iran, marking a 47.7% year-on-year drop.
Previously, the Industries Ministry regularly published statistics about car production. However, following consecutive declines, the ministry stopped publishing such reports. The release of the data by Fars News Agency comes as a surprise to observers.
Iran Khodro’s output plummeted 58.7% in the month to reach 17,240 units. In addition to passenger vehicles, IKCO manufactures commercial vehicles, including vans, pickups, trucks and buses. However, in the month-long period, IKCO halted the production lines of commercial vehicles.
IKCO’s archrival, SAIPA, is also in disarray. In the period under review, SAIPA produced 27,211 cars and commercial vehicles, marking a decline of 23.4% year-on-year. The company made 24,175 passenger vehicles and 3,036 pickups.
According to the report, in the five months ending Aug. 22, Iran’s automotive output plummeted 39.8% compared to a year earlier.
During the period, Iran produced 314,278 cars and commercial vehicles, of which 290,803 units were passenger vehicles that show a decline of 40.8% YOY.
IKCO’s five-month output was down 39.7%, dropping to 136,998 cars and commercial vehicles. With 135,677 passenger vehicles, car production had declined by 39.1% compared to a year earlier at IKCO. During the period, the firm only manufactured 1,321commercial vehicles.
SAIPA also recorded a 28.5% drop in its total output during the five months by manufacturing 162,000 cars and commercial vehicles.
Since June 2018, Iran’s auto production has been plummeting.
Industries Minister Reza Rahmani has been criticized for making false promises that auto production has been boosted over the past few months.
Mismanagement and corruption, as well as the blistering pressure of US sanctions, have derailed Iran’s auto industries. The semi-state car companies, SAIPA and IKCO, have struggled with numerous scandals over the past few months, including the arrest of several top managers of the two companies.
Industry insiders and local media have speculated that the two companies are on the verge of bankruptcy and as usual, need the government to help bail them out to preserve thousands of jobs at state in the chronically dysfunctional automotive firms.
