Debts Add to Automakers’ Woes

Iran’s auto industry is crippled with massive debts, a member of Iran Auto Parts Makers Association said.
Reza Rezaei also told Tasnim News Agency that over the past six months, Iranian carmakers owed 17 trillion rials ($75.22 million) to local parts manufacturers.
Noting that parts manufacturing companies employ hundreds of thousands of people, the official said if a loan is not extended to the carmakers immediately, the situation might grow into a crisis and many people would lose their jobs.
Rezaei called on lawmakers to take measures in support of the key industry, calling on Majlis to help remove impediments in the way of the auto sector.
In another report, IAPMA’s Secretary Maziar Beiglou told reporters that the automakers’ cumulative debt to parts makers over the past several years exceeds 350 trillion rials ($1.54 billion).
Arash Mohebbinejad, secretary of the association, a lobbying arm of the industry and the official debt collector, said if non-payment of debt could be construed as a crisis, the chronically indebted Iranian automakers have perpetually remained in crisis mode, ever since their inception.