SAIPA Industrial Group produced 397,000 cars last year, of which a quarter were manufactured in the last two months of the fiscal 2021-22 (Jan. 21-March 20), according to the group’s CEO.
"In the two months, 94,000 cars were delivered to customers,” Mohammad Ali Teymouri was also quoted as saying by Donyaye Khodro.
“In order to fulfill the eight-article decree of the president, which was announced late last year, the daily production of this automaker has increased to 1,500 units since April 3. This is an important step to produce 650,000 vehicles in SAIPA in the new Iranian year [started March 21],” he added.
The decree underscores the need to increase the country's car production 1.5 times next year, enhance the quality of products, remove cars with old platforms from production lines and replace new and updated products and increase the warranty of cars offered from two years or 40,000 kilometers to three years or 60,000 kilometers.
"The number of incomplete cars in the parking lot was about 80,000 on Jan. 13, 2022, which decreased to 43,500 until March 20 and is expected to reach 20,000 by April 21," SAIPA’s CEO said.
"All our efforts are aimed at accelerating the completion of parking lots’ incomplete cars and increase car production for the implementation of the decree and the reduction of car prices."
He noted that the completion of incomplete cars and rise in daily production caused the prices of SAIPA's cars in the market to decline in the last months of the previous year, pointing out that for instance, the price of Tiba decreased by 90 million rials ($325).
Moreover, SAIPA Automotive Group, in order to calm the car market and supply cars to “real applicants”, started the first one-year presale of six of its products from April 6.
In order to fulfill its obligations and respond appropriately to the needs of the applicants, the automaker has started a one-year presale of Shahin J, Quick S, Quick R with normal gearbox, Quick with normal gearbox, Saina S and Saipa SE 151 with M13 engine.
Reducing Auto Service Costs
Problems related to high prices of low-quality car components can only be fixed by after-sales service networks, automotive experts say.
In a meeting with parts manufacturers, Teymouri criticized the current situation of after-sales services and stated that the cost of providing services and supplying components in the after-sales service network is higher than the market rates.
According to the Persian economic daily Donya-e-Eqtesad, SAIPA’s new CEO was appointed on Jan. 12 and that of Iran Khodro Company on Jan. 29.
“Under the circumstances, we cannot expect customers to use our after-sales services,” Teymouri added.
Stressing that the shortage of parts at dealerships is a major challenge that needs to be addressed quickly, SAIPA’s CEO said, "The supply chain plays a key role in strengthening the after-sales service network and it is possible to increase customer satisfaction by providing quality parts and delivering them on time."
Lack of liquidity and components, in addition to problems afflicting production lines, has affected after-sales services. Just as some vehicles are marked "incomplete" by producers due to the lack of some components and dumped in their parking lots, some cars are also kept in after-sales service agencies and they can only be cleared when marked as "incomplete" or "defective".
Some of the assembled foreign vehicles lack parts due to the termination of the cooperation of foreign automakers and their non-fulfillment of service obligations while domestic vehicles also face component supply problems in the after-sales service networks.
The new CEOs of the two major Iranian carmakers have placed the speedy completion and sale of incomplete cars on the agenda. They have also announced plans to improve after-sales services to meet quantitative and qualitative goals and make prompt deliveries to customers to increase public satisfaction.
However, this requires the allocation of liquidity to automakers who should adjust the purchase price of parts by automakers. It is ironical that despite the low purchase price of parts by automakers, they supply those parts in their after-sales service networks at a price higher than those in the open market.
Automotive experts recommend automakers reform and upgrade their structures to achieve a competitive price in the after-sales service sector and make efforts to increase the quality of parts offered to customers.
