Iran Khodro Company (IKCO), the largest domestic automaker wants of sell some of its popular models via the Iran Mercantile Exchange.
It will offer 1,000 Peugeot 207s on November 21. The base price has been set at 1.87 billion (around $5,234), the company said in a press statement carried the SENA news agency.
The vehicle is manual with an electronic wheel and white color. One such car can be applied for with an ID number.
Iranians aged 18 and above who could not buy a vehicle in previous such offers can register.
Buyers should log into the IKCO internet sale website at esale.ikco.ir to create a personal profile, choose an authorized dealership and insurance company and deposit the money.
IME has said that the vehicle will be delivered to buyers within three months after the registry date (February 19, 2023).
Auto sale via the IME was temporarily suspended by the Industries Ministry in late May. It then argued that the practice was incompatible with rules to regulate the chaotic auto market and added to market volatility as car prices jumped to unprecedented highs.
However, the ministry’s move was censured by market observers and stakeholders for “undermining transparency” that hurt efforts to curb the government’s arbitrary intervention in the domestic auto market.
In July the ministry backtracked and the High Council of Securities and Exchange decided to resume offering selected brands. As per current procedures, only cars not subject to pricing mechanism by the government are offered at the IME.
Offering auto at the IME is seen by some as a positive sign that could help curb, and possibly eliminate, the government’s unwanted pricing policies that have all but failed to produce the desired results.
There have been calls by capital market authorities and shareholders on the government to rethink its apparently dysfunctional policies of imposing prices on goods made by listed companies and let the market decide.
They argue that price caps set by the government are usually lower than real (market) prices and to the detriment of manufacturers and shareholders.
In the past several years, the Competition Council has been in charge of setting prices of a number of domestically-produced goods, a policy that has been mired in controversy.
The long-held policy of dictating prices by the government(s), with open disregard for supply and demand mechanisms, are seen as unwanted and unhelpful.
Market Performance
Some 2,872 vehicles have been sold at the IME since the beginning of the fiscal year in late March.
Bahman Motors accounted for the most vehicles sold at IME at 1,792. Chinese-made Dignity and Fidelity were Bahman Motor's two popular offers at the IME with the company selling 742 Fidelity SUVs and 594 Dignity brands since the beginning of the year.
Bahman Motors has also sold 456 Kara pickups, a popular vehicle in Iran originally produced by Mazda.
IKCO's Haima SUV was the second popular brand sold at the IME numbering 732 vehicles in four offers since March.
Saipa, the second major local automaker, has also sold 64 of its Shahin brands.
Two hundred EAMA Lamari cars, the first product of Arian Pars Motors Company, has also been sold at the mercantile exchange.
Truck offers were welcomed by buyers. Companies sold 85 vehicles. Heavy-duty trucks included FAW and EM Power brands from China assembled by Bahman Motors and Siba Motor.
