No Phaseout for Pride, Peugeot 405

As long as the Iranian National Standards Organization certifies the quality of a car, its production should not stop.

Nayyereh Pirouzbakht, the head of INSO, noted that there are a set of standards that must be followed in auto production, IRNA reported on Sunday.

Pirouzbakht added that there are 52 factors that affect the overall standards of a car.

Last week, the local media widely reported that the production of SAIPA’s Pride and Iran Khodro’s Peugeot 405 will stop by the end of the current Iranian year (March 20, 2017).

However, following the reports, the Ministry of Industries, Mining and Trade announced that no directives have been issued for phasing out cars that are being produced in Iran as long as they meet quality, fuel-efficiency and air-pollution standards.

In March, INSO dispatched an official letter to SAIPA, Iran’s second largest auto manufacturer, announcing that the automotive company should submit a plan for phasing out the production of 20-year-old Pride model.

Pirouzbakht noted that diversity and innovation in production as well as timely delivery of customer services are key factors that determine whether or not the production of a certain car model should proceed or stop.

“Despite this, a car might have all the needed standards but customers might not be satisfied with the model or it might be overpriced,” she said.

The official noted that in such cases, there is no choice but to phase out certain models.

Pirouzbakht also announced that Iran has now become a member of the International Accreditation Forum, which means that the certificates issued by Iran for managerial systems are credible in 70 countries.

“This is one of the merits of being an IAF member,” she said.

The IAF is the world association of Conformity Assessment Accreditation Bodies and other bodies interested in conformity assessment in the fields of management systems, products, services and personnel.

Pirouzbakht also said that if a product complies with European standards, there is no need for it to be inspected again in Iran as per the union’s rules.

“Monitoring the standards of such products will be implemented indirectly,” she said.