The daily and weekly domestic production records were broken by SAIPA Automotive Group in the third fiscal month (started May 22), according to the latest statistics reported by the company.
With the production of 1,835 vehicles on May 25, SAIPA set the daily production record in the last eight months.
In the first week of the current Iranian month (May 22-May 28), with the production of 10,601 vehicles, the highest weekly output was registered in the last 12 months by the industrial group, Donyaye Khodro reported.
To increase the production capacity and reduce incomplete vehicles in SAIPA Group, 17,000 defective vehicles have been completed since the beginning of the current fiscal year (March 21), which has resulted in a 40% reduction in incomplete vehicles.
In other words, the 43,000 incomplete vehicles in the company’s parking lot have decreased to 26,000 and the company claims that the number of these vehicles will soon reach 20,000 vehicles.
Concerning the total production of SAIPA in the fiscal 2021-22, nearly 70,000 vehicles were produced which, according to the automotive plan of the Ministry of Industries, Mining and Trade, shows that 103% of its target were achieved.
Despite the criticisms of some automakers regarding the policy of the Ministry of Industries, Mining and Trade regarding the integrated sales system, Mohammad Ali Teymouri, the CEO of SAIPA, considered this policy as one of the best implemented in the automotive industry.
"All major automobile producing countries in the world supply and sell their products on this basis. If proper policymaking had been done for SAIPA from the beginning, the group would have been able to produce 2,700 vehicles in three shifts," he added.
Teymouri noted that SAIPA has been able to use 98% of its capacity in two shifts this year and produce 1,800 cars per day.
“The main problem with unsafe cars goes back to the 18 million cars that have been produced in the fiscal 2011-12 and before," he said.
"Recently, Tiba and Samand cars have been introduced as unsafe cars by the Institute of Standards and Industrial Research of Iran. However, these vehicles have 85 standards and the main problem is in the cars produced before the fiscal 2011-12 and a serious decision must be made to collect old cars," he said.
"There must be a process to remove the car from the production chain because currently, parts manufacturers have produced parts for Tiba and Samand, the manufacturers of which also have parts of these two cars in their warehouses. So, preventing the production of these cars in a sudden manner and without prior notice will cause losses and waste national resources."
Privatization of Two Automakers in Final Stage
Minister of Industries, Mining and Trade Reza Fatemi-Amin said the privatization of SAIPA and Iran Khodro (IKCO) are in the final stage.
"The determination of the market value of SAIPA and IKCO is underway since the fiscal 2021-22, but as the properties and assets of these two companies are scattered throughout the country, the valuation process has been slow," Fatemi-Amin said on the sidelines of the Iran-Russia Trade Conference on the latest status of their transfer to the private sector.
According to SAIPA Automotive Group, 42% of SAIPA’s shares held by its subsidiaries are ready for sale.
As the initial pricing was done three months ago and in the last month of the previous fiscal year (Feb. 20-March 20, 2022), currently, 500 judiciary experts are appraising SAIPA's properties and 300 experts are valuing IKCO’s assets for privatization.
The minister said Iran Khodro’s shares will be transferred after SAIPA’s.
Referring to the timing of the full privatization of the two companies, Fatemi-Amin said, "At present, it is not possible to give a precise date for its completion, but the work is in the final stage."
Despite these statements, parliamentarians and automotive experts emphasize that the problem of carmakers is more managerial than ownership.
A majority of the shares of the two automakers have already been privatized but, in practice, the companies continue to operate as government entities.
In other words, the ownership of these automakers’ shares has moved from the government to state-affiliated institutions and organizations, but the government sets the production target and appoints managers for the two companies.
Such a trend has caused the industry to always face the censure of experts and the dissatisfaction of customers.
After officials were compelled to admit that the automotive industry is inefficient, they agreed to lift the ban on car imports. But as long as the key industry’s policies and management are not overhauled, there’s no hope for its reformation and prosperity.
