Iran Khodro Company (IKCO) has announced a 54% growth in production from the beginning of the current fiscal year (March 21) until June 16.
In terms of the production of cars deficient in parts, the company said 100% progress has been made in halting this trend, Donyaye Khodro reported.
Vice President for Development and Production of Iran Khodro Kianoush Pourmojib claimed a 40% increase in the quality of products, resulting from sending vehicles straight from the production line to the market.
"Currently, the production is being carried out at a higher pitch and quality than before," he added, thanking car parts manufacturers and suppliers for their support.
The official said the production of complete cars exceeded 135,000 units from March 21 to June 16, while the company had committed to deliver 126,000 vehicles.
"The main segment of production last year consisted of incomplete vehicles and the return of cars to production lines for completion led to a decline in their quality, which has been eliminated this year," he added.
Pourmojib considered the reduction in incomplete cars from 82,500 units during Jan. 21-Feb. 19 to the current 23,000 units as a very important and encouraging achievement.
He also announced the daily production of more than 2,600 units and said, "The daily production will soon exceed 2,900 units per day, which will lead to unprecedented events for the automotive industry," he said.
Emphasizing on using the capacities of knowledge-based companies in car production, he said, “In the recent conference held by the company, by recognizing the cooperation capacities of knowledge-based companies with Iran Khodro, 54 cooperation memorandums were signed, which is a turning point in the domestic automotive industry.”
The official stated that more than 260 technological needs were outlined in the specialized panels of the conference.
“Many knowledge-based companies, including Jetco, TAM, IPCO, Nirou Moharekeh, Charkheshgar, Iran Khodro Advanced Dies Company, SAPCO, ITRAC, ISACO, ISEIKCO, Goharfam, Irankhodro Khorasan and I.D.E.M, participated in the exhibition held on the sidelines of this conference. Also, knowledge-based institutions, including the Vice-Presidency for Science and Technology, Faradeed, Mana, Radsa Tech and Sarmad, displayed their technological potentials in the automotive field to the public," he said.
The Iran Khodro official noted that despite the end of the conference on cooperation with knowledge-based companies, due to the eagerness of knowledge-based companies for cooperating with Iran Khodro, fresh negotiations and agreements are likely.
According to Pourmojib, the conference was attended by more than 400 real and legal persons in various knowledge-based fields in person or online.
Automakers Ordered to Submit Quality Improvement 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 Automotive Group and Iran Khodro 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 above decision during a meeting with representatives of Traffic Police, roads and industries ministries, IKCO, SAIPA and the Institute of Standards and Industrial Research of Iran.
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 they must fulfill the commitments made in contracts that must uphold the interests of both sides.
Hojjatollah Firouzi, another lawmaker, 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 help reduce prices and 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.
IKCO and the second major automaker 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.
