After offering Peugeot 207 at the Iran Mercantile Exchange (IME), the Securities and Exchange Organization (SEO) is set to offer other popular models in the stock market, a SEO official said.
“The [next] vehicles can include the Peugeot 206 and Peugeot Pars. The two main auto manufacturers, namely Iran Khodro (IKCO) and SAIPA have to make the decision,” Amir Mehdi Sabayi was quoted by SENA news agency as saying.
The move to sell cars via the IME is in the context of curbing and eventually ending the government’s contentious practice of imposing prices, Sabayi said.
“We need to move forward one step at a time. Offering cars in the stock market can be a blessing for the auto industry as it has amassed colossal losses over the years from government-imposed prices.”
However, the official did not mention mismanagement, dysfunction and lack of inefficiency that the carmakers are saddled with for decades the visible outcome of which has been exorbitant prices and inferior quality.
Selling cars via the IME is seen by some as auspicious that can and should curb and possibly eliminate years of the government’s controversial pricing diktat that have all but failed to produce the desired results.
There have been calls by capital market authorities and shareholders on the government to rethink its apparently dysfunctional policies of imposing prices on goods made by listed companies and let the market decide.
They argue that price caps set by the government are usually lower than real (market) prices and to the detriment of manufacturers and shareholders.
In the past several years, the so-called Competition Council has been in charge of setting prices of a number of domestically-produced goods -- a policy mired in controversy.
The extended policy of dictating prices by government(s), with open disregard for supply and demand mechanisms, are seen as unwanted and unhelpful.
The Economy Ministry recently said it was preparing a bill to disengage from the harm inflicted on the economy due to years of government-controlled prices on goods.
“The law, on many occasions, holds the government responsible for compensating loss suffered [by producers] due to the mandatory prices, which were unhelpful and imprecise…
Therefore, we see it as a duty to support businesses, producers and exporters whose profits were compromised or piled up losses,” Economy Minister Ehsan Khandouzi said recently
Khandouzi said that the ministry and the government’s Economic Headquarters are determined to put an end to the defective practices.
Last week IKCO announced that it will offer 1,000 Peugeot 207s at Iran Mercantile Exchange on November 21. The base price of the vehicle is 1.87 billion (around $5,234).
The vehicle is said to be manual, has an electronic wheel and white color. One Peugeot 207 can be registered by every Iranian with the ID number.
Those aged 18 or over, or have not succeeded in purchasing vehicles in previous government offers can register this time.
Buyers need to log into IKCO internet sale website at esale.ikco.ir to create a personal profile, choose an authorized dealership and insurance company, and make the required deposit.
IME has said that the vehicle will be delivered to buyers within three months after the registration (Feb 19, 2023).
Kerman Motor Unwelcome
Kerman Motor, the largest private automaker in Iran, on Saturday started offering three models at the IME for the first time. It offered 300 vehicles, including 100 KMC Pickups, 100 JAC S5s and 100 JAC J4 sedans.
Buyers were required to pay 25% of the price as down payment.
However, the move was not welcome as IME data showed that only 130 vehicles were sold, including 64 JAC S5 crossovers and 66 KMC Pickups at the base price.
Kerman Motor is a major private auto company with several subsidiaries, namely Bam Khodro, Khodro Sazan Rine, Modiran Vehicle Manufacturing, Karmania and Rigan Khodro. The subsidiaries are mostly based in Bam Arg-e-Jadid Special Economic Zone near Kerman in central Iran.
Some 2,872 vehicles have been sold at the IME since the beginning of the fiscal year in late March.
