SAIPA has increased production in the first two months of the current fiscal year (March 21-May 21).
It produced 1,303 vehicles per day in the first fiscal month (March 21-April 20) and 1,523 vehicles in the second fiscal month (April 21-May 21), Donyaye Khodro reported.
SAIPA Automotive Group, which has put increasing production capacity and improving quality on its agenda, produced 1,060 vehicles and sold 1,123 cars per day in the last two months of the previous fiscal year (Jan. 21-March 20).
A total of 79,264 incomplete cars were in the company's parking lot in the 10th month of the previous fiscal year (Dec. 21, 2021-Jan. 21). The number of these cars declined to about 43,000 units in the 12th month of last year (Feb. 20-March 20).
The number of unfinished cars in the second month of the current fiscal year (April 21-May 21) has been reduced from about 31,000 units to about 25,000 units, which SAIPA aims to soon reduce to 20,000 vehicles.
The total liabilities of SAIPA in the fiscal 2022-23 are equal to 194,913 vehicles and its deferred liabilities are equal to 6,190 vehicles, which shows a significant reduction in the deferred liabilities of this company.
“With the efforts made in the new management period and with the measures considered during the last two months, the incomplete cars produced by SAIPA were reduced from 80,000 units to about 20,000 vehicles,” Chairman of the Special Commission for Prosperity of Production and Supervision Over Implementation of Majlis Constitution’s Article 44 Shamseddin Hosseini said.
"Fortunately, under the new management, reforms have been made and the number of incomplete cars in the company’s parking lots was reduced. We must take action to ensure that the number of incomplete cars in the parking lot is within a standard range.”
Hosseini noted that while facilitating competition, corporate governance reform should also be considered and the automaker should be able to compete with other companies.
"The reformation of the financing system, which can reduce the financial burden of the automaker, must also be pursued. These factors affect the carmaker's vision and performance," he concluded.
Automakers Ordered to Submit Quality Enhancement Roadmap
Lawmakers have ordered Iran’s two major auto producers to submit roadmaps for enhancing the quality of their vehicles.
According to the Majlis news outlet, SAIPA and Iran Khodro (IKCO) have been given 72 hours to submit a roadmap to the parliament, in which they should elaborate on their plans for improving customers' satisfaction, as well as the quality and security of vehicles.
Rouhollah Nejabat, a lawmaker, referred to the direct impact of domestic vehicles on the high number of road casualties and said lawmakers made the decision during a meeting with representatives of Traffic Police, Roads Ministry, Ministry of Industries, Mining and Trade, Iran Khodro Industrial Group, SAIPA and the National Standards Organization.
In another update, Ezzatollah Akbari, another lawmaker, called on the government to prepare the grounds for the entry of private producers and foreign companies in the automotive industry, as it would help improve the industry's competitiveness.
He also criticized carmakers for their irresponsibility and said carmakers must fulfill their commitments in contracts that must uphold the interests of both sides.
Hojjatollah Firouzi, another lawmaker, also said the import of new cars could be a useful method for compelling domestic producers to improve their performance.
"The presence of foreign cars in the market would naturally help reduce prices and at the same time force domestic producers to improve the quality of their products," he said.
The measure follows widespread public complaints about the poor quality of domestically-produced cars.
The previous government had imposed a ban on car imports to prevent the outflow of foreign currency made scarce by US sanctions and lower oil sales in the fiscal 2018-19. However, the incumbent government has placed the import of 70,000 cars on next year’s agenda to meet its financial needs.
IKCO and SAIPA enjoy a near monopoly in the domestic market and so far, car imports remain banned.
Iran's total auto output in the last Iranian year (ended March 20, 2022), stood at 963,179, down 2.9% year-on-year. IKCO posted a 6.7% decline in output last year, whereas the decline was 5.5% for SAIPA.
One person dies in a road accident every half hour in Iran, taking the annual death toll to 17,000, the Iranian Legal Medicine Organization announced.
The organization also said close to 30,000 people are annually embroiled in accidents.
According to Majlis Research Center, the costs of road crashes amount to 8% of Iran’s gross domestic product. In the years ending March 2012 and March 2017, car collisions cost the economy 519 trillion rials ($2.1 billion) and 535 trillion rials ($2.17 billion) respectively.
