Several prospective companies have withdrawn from the race to import cars because of unspecified tariffs and mechanism for selling the cars via IME.
While automotive experts and players believe that it is not possible to import cars by the end of the year, the possible entry of brands such as Toyota, Mitsubishi, Datsun, Hyundai, Kia and Changan into the Iranian market has been touted by the officials of the Ministry of Industries, Mining and Trade.
Many market players, who had earlier registered for importing cars, have withdrawn from the scheme to import 70,000 cars over lack of clarity regarding the tariff and mode of sale through the Iran Mercantile Exchange.
Ali Qanbari, an economist and a member of the Faculty of Economics of Tarbiat Modares University, noted that the determination of the price of imported cars in IME is a requirement, but it has not yet been finalized due to a lack of interaction between the parties concerned, Donyaye Khodro reported.
"Due to the lack of financial literacy and the conflict of interests between importers and IME, it is necessary to determine the tariff rates and customs fees before importing the cars,” he added.
Commenting on the sale of domestic cars via IME, he said although the stock exchange organization has mechanisms in place for selling cars, officials are using a trial and error method to undertake this sale.
Like other experts, Qanbari insisted that holding lotteries for selling cars and using command pricing must be halted, “but we are still waiting for a solution in this regard."
The economist noted that in addition to solving the pricing problem, the reform of financial structure and reduction of government ownership in the automotive sector should also be pursued.
He added that although the privatization of large automobile factories has been the focus of most countries, the Iranian government has not shown the necessary determination in this field.
Qanbari said car import had been suspended for a long time by the Industries Ministry, but presently only the import of cars from France remains prohibited. He added that the delay in car imports has made applicants wary of the final result of importing 70,000 cars.
“The Industries Ministry initially announced receiving 24 requests for car import, and later said seven companies were eligible to register car import orders, which figure was increased to 12 companies. However, a large number of car import applicants on this list are domestic carmakers or their subsidiaries, as well as private car assemblers,” he said.
“In the past, official representatives of companies used letters of credit and usance to buy from foreign car companies, but these conditions do not exist for new companies. Buyers should not be promised the import of cars of brands such as Toyota, Mitsubishi and Datsun, because these companies cannot sign new contracts with other Iranian companies as they already have exclusive agency contract with established importers in Iran.”
Qanbari pointed out that some of the selected importers have introduced their target brands, even though the exact details of car import remain uncertain.
“There have been rumors of importing from intermediate countries instead of the main countries of origin, which is apparently a serious lapse. It has been reported that other than Chinese products, the rest of the products will be imported indirectly from third parties,” he said.
