After the bill allowing the import of used cars was passed by the parliament, automobile prices started declining in the domestic market.
The permission to import used cars under five years old, ratified by lawmakers on Monday, had a dramatic impact, such that the prices of all types of cars have started falling, the head of Iran Auto Dealers Association said.
Saeed Motemani was also quoted as saying by IRNA that in the past few months, car prices had increased incrementally, but with the approval of the bill for importing used cars, as well as positive news about improvement of political ties with neighboring states, prices took a downturn.
“In general, positive news, whether it’s about import liberalization, political issues, etc., affects the prices of capital goods, including cars. In fact, any move to organize the automotive market, even if it is the import of a small number of cars, will have a positive impact,” he said.
The official said Peugeot 207 with manual transmission and glass roof, the price of which had increased to 7.5 billion rials ($15,204) in the past few days, had no customers at 7 billion rials ($14,190).
“When a customer knows that in the near future, cars will be imported [both new and used], prices will fall and the approval of the used car import bill by the parliament was also effective in this regard,” he added.
According to Motemani, after car imports begin in the near future, customs tariffs will also affect the domestic market.
“The improvement of political relations with neighboring countries is also one of those signs that calms investors and causes car prices to decline,” he said.
After the car import announcement, the prices of domestic cars declined by 40-400 million rials ($81-$810) and prices of assembled cars also plunged. For example, the price of Tiggo 8 Pro has declined by 900 million rials ($1,824) since yesterday.
50,000 Applicants Quit Nat’l Online Car Ordering Portal
Alarge number of applicants have withdrawn from the national online car ordering portal, Esalecar.ir, in just 24 hours.
According to Mehdi Taqaddosi, the portal’s manager, the reduction in domestic car prices because of the decline in foreign exchange rate is the main reason behind this lack of interest, IRNA reported.
“One of the private sectors’ car producers announced on June 12 that only 10% of car applicants of this company deposited the rest of the car purchase money in the first stage of the integrated sale plan and the remaining 90% have quit,” he said.
“The applicants approached their banks and withdrew their money; they didn’t wait for the announcement of results on June 14.”
He said some of the private sector’s assembled cars are being sold in the market at a price lower than the factory prices and this issue, along with the unattractiveness of registered vehicles, has accelerated the trend of withdrawal.
While stating that the number of applicants in the second phase of the integrated sale plan was more than one million people, Taqaddosi said the precise number of withdrawals is not known, but “we will inform as soon as it becomes available.”
In the past few days, it was reported that 20-50% of applicants of domestic and assembled cars in the national online car ordering portal had retreated from the first phase.
Experts believe that this indicates that most people had participated in this plan to earn a profit, but pulled away when the price gap between the factory and market prices declined.
The prices of assembled cars in the market have fallen considerably in the past few days.
The price of Bahman Motor’s Dignity Prestige fell by 950 million rials ($1,990) on June 12. It dipped by 900 million rials ($1,885) for Arian Motor’s Lamari Eama, 800 million rials ($1676) for Bahman Motor’s Dignity Prime, 900 million rials (($1,885) for Chery’s Tiggo 8 Pro and 900 million rials ($1,885) for Tiggo 8 Promax IE.
Also, the market price of Kerman Motor’s cars (except JAC Motors’ S3), Respect and Inroad vans (from Bahman Motor), X55 Pro, Arizzo 5, Arizzo 5 Sport, Arizzo 6 Pro and Tiggo 7 IE, Ryne R3 and Suba M4 is lower than the factory price of these products.
The prices of other assemblers' products have also shrunk from 1,000 million rials ($209) to 700 million rials ($1,466).
