SAIPA, Iran’s second largest automaker has announced that the company has sold 4,000 Sandero Stepways in less than an hour.
“Iran’s auto market is eager to embrace the introduction of new models, and the Sandero Stepway has been well received,” according to the company’s sales director Reza Taqavi.
Taqavi said SAIPA was shocked at how many vehicles were sold on the first day, Persian Khodro, a local automotive website reported on September 25.
He assured the car buyers that the pre-sold cars will be delivered in time. “If the demand for the model does not fall in the upcoming weeks SAIPA will adjust its production rate to the market demand.”
The official later addressed the issue of the price bobble which have been created in Iran’s auto market and the model being traded at a price that strongly deviates from the corresponding asset’s intrinsic value and said “With significant rise in Stepway’s production rate SAIPA is aiming to tackle this obstacle in the sale of the model.”
The model is offered in manual and automatic transmission and is priced 460 million rials ($13,000). This is while the international price for the model is $10,000. The $3,000 gap is relatively passable compared to the price of the other cars available in Iran’s auto market.
According to previous reports SAIPA is to produce 20,000 units of Sandero Stepway annually but the unexpected demand for the model might force the company to change its production plans.
The new vehicle is a higher chassis model of the best-selling low-cost Sandero hatchback which is already being sold in Iran.
The car takes the standard Sandero body with its roomy interior and adds a higher driving experience and more rugged exterior, but not the full 4x4 car experience one would expect with the price increase. Stepway has a 1.6 liter KM4 A6 or C6 engine, depending on customers’ choice.
The model is to be produced by Pars Khodro, one of the major subsidiaries of SAIPA which in the recent years have forged a deal with the Chinese car company Brilliance to produce three of its models, namely the H220, H230 and H320 range of small cars.
The car company has also recently begun the production of Renault’s Koleos and a rebadged Dacia Sandero under the Renault moniker.
Sales of the Stepway’s sister vehicle, the Sandero, have been steady since its release in the local market in May 2015.
