One thousand Peugeot 207s were sold at the Iran Mercantile Exchange on Monday within an hour after trade opened.
The cars were offered at an average price of 3.43 billion rials ($9,616). Adding “other costs” at the major trading center, the final price of each sedan reached 3.91 billion ($10,967), IRNA reported. It was not clear what the “other costs” were related to.
The final price, however, was almost 500 million rials lower than the market price based on data from online auto trading platforms. IME has said that the vehicle will be delivered to buyers by mid-February.
Last week Iran Khodro Company (IKCO) said it would offer 1,000 Peugeot 207s at the IME. The base price of the car was set at 1.87 billion (around $5,234) and the key condition was the full price should be paid in advance.
The vehicles were manual, had an electronic wheel white color. Only one car could be registered by an Iranian with the ID number.
Selling cars via the IME was ratified by the Securities and Exchange Organization (SEO) High Council in June and since then 3,080 vehicles have been sold in the stock market.
Though in its infancy, the role of the IME is cautiously expected to help stabilize the chaotic auto market in which prices have shot up to unprecedented levels in the past few years with middlemen making a bad situation worse.
Offers started with the Mazda Cara pick-up single/double cabins. So far 742 Fidelities manufactured by Bahman Motor, 731 Haima S7s by IKCO, 594 Dignities by Bahman Motor, 316 Mazda pick-up double cabins by Bahman Motor, 140 Mazda Cara pick-up single cabins by Bahman Motor, 200 Lamari Eamas by Arian Pars Motor, 121 Empower puller trucks by Bahman Diesel, 69 KMC T8s by Kerman Motor, 68 JAC S5s by Kerman Motor, 64 Shahins by SAIPA, and 35 FAW puller trucks by Siba Motor have been sold.
Experts say offering affordable cars in the stock market is a positive move paving the way for transparency in the market, removes avaricious middlemen from the chaotic market, reduces the malign impact of government-imposed prices on the aut industry while safeguarding the interest of consumers, producers and shareholders.
The SEO has said it intends to offer other popular models in the stock market.
“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 Sabaei, SEO's deputy for supervisory affairs has s, was quoted by SENA news agency as saying.
Resorting to the IME for new car deals is seen by observers 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 struggling 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 many an domestically-produced goods -- a policy mired in controversy.
The extended policy of dictating prices by government(s), with open disregard for supply-demand mechanisms are seen by free-market advocates as a key impediment to much-needed decent economic growth.
