Saipa now has a loss of 180 trillion IRRs

Khodrocar – After two and a half years of silence, Saeid Madani, former CEO of Saipa, told Khodrocar about all the accusations: "Mohsen Ghasemi Jahroudi, the new CEO of Saipa is in much worst situation than me and has a loss of 180 trillion IRRs.”

* Your dismissal happened very quickly; Was it because of your performance during your management period?

- My dismissal was completely a political decision. Also Mohammadreza Nematzadeh (Former Minister of Industry, Mine and Trade) insisted that I keep my position in Saipa because our team saved this Saipa.

*Many times, after Mehdi Jamali became the CEO of Saipa, mentioned the bad conditions of Saipa before his presence in this compny as new CEO. Why didn’t you defend yourself?

-When I became the Saipa’s CEO, only 800 vehicles were produced daily, all product development plans were stopped and the loss was 40 trillion IRRs. After my dismissal, the daily production was one thousand and 800 vehicles, But Mehdi Jamali said that it was only 400. Also the production line of Cerato, Sandro, Changan and Brilliance was ready and we started projects of producing Saina, Pride Pickup and Tiba2. Also we began SP1 project, which was a national production. Totally, I inherited 13 vehicles when I left Saipa and the part manufacturers’ loss was less than 60 trillion IRRs, but now it’s more than 180 trillion IRRs.

* So you believe that Saipa was not in crisis at the day you quit?

- Yes, I do and the reason why I didn’t defend myself to this day, was the documents that doesn’t lie about my career.

* What is your opinion about the management change in Saipa?

- I do believe in Jahroudi’s management but now Saipa is facing huge financial problems. Except the development tasks performed between the year 1391 to 1393, nothing special has occurred and the financial conditions became even worst. I wish Mohsen Jahroudi success but he is going to face huge problems.

* Is Saipa's situation worsening due to the management?

- No. Management is one of the few reasons for this situation worsening. Vehicle pricing and old cars are the other important factors.

* Did you have anything to do with choosing the name "Quick” for one of the products of Saipa?

- We weren’t able to use automatic gearbox in "Tiba2” and "Saina” because of their old design, so we decided to produce a new car with a new design. Many names were suggested for this new vehicle and "Quick” was one of them, but we didn’t make a decision about the name.

*Mohsen Jahroudi ordered to stop the pre-sales of Quick due to revision of standards; What is your opinion?

- Standards are more important than mass production. First of all, the Vehicle should pass all the standards then we can think about the mass production.

* You were the project manager of the draft of Renault contract and few months later, you quitted, why is that?

- The issues regarding Bonro, Saipa and IDRO scared me. Beside the financial issues between IDRO and Bonro, in the year 1389, Renault wanted to leave Iran but we didn’t let that happen with part manufacturers’ help. Furthermore, IDRO, Bonro and Saipa had some inconsistencies in pricing and I was responsible for all of these problems. So I decided to quit.

Khodrocar reporter: Asal Dadashloo

Khodrocar translator: Maziyar Jafarieh