Is “BAIC” Going To Succeed in Iran’s Car Market?
Over the past years, China’s BAIC Co. has always been looking to announce its presence and gain a good market share in Iran’s car market but until this day, the it wasn’t successful and the the lack of consistency between the new Chinese government's policies of expanding electric vehicles and the demands in the Iranian market will also make the situation worst for them.
Khodrocar – It has been four years since the presence of the first BAIC’s production in Iran. The Chinese company is producing "Senova” and "Sabrina” in cooperation with "Diar Khodro” in Iran.
The most important reason for BAIC’s reputation in Iran were the news dedicated to the entrance of their vehicles to Iran’s Taxi fleet which the parliament and domestic car makers wasn’t happy with that.
The BAIC’s products were first introduced in Iran in the year 2014, and everybody expected a bold presence which didn’t come to the truth actually.
In 2013, with the entrance of the Chinese company in Iran, there were rumors about using 10 thousand of Chinese vehicles as taxis in Iran. This news didn’t sound good to the Parliament and also Consumer and Producer Protection Organization and with their protests, the Chinese dream didn’t come to the truth.
Soon after that, in the end of 2014, at the same time with unveiling the new "Sabrina” PHEV during a ceremony, with the presence of the Chairman of Department of Environment, Mohammad Taghi Khanlou, CEO of Diar Khodro said that the company is capable of producing 42500 hybrid taxis annuall, but that also didn’t happen until this day.
Diar Khodro preferred to keep producing their 2 models until the Second Tehran Autoshow in 2017. By unveiling 6 new models including a full size SUV, CUV, super mini and sedan in the second Tehran Autoshow, the China’s BAIC showed that they are very keen to be active in Iran’s car market. The Chinese automaker, in collaboration with Diar Khodro, has announced the launch of three new products for the next year.
During a press conference, BAIC’s chief executive in Iran stated that Iran is their major partner in Middle East and talked about his hopes of turning Iran into BAIC’s Middle East service center.
According to the new policies of China’s government, automakers must replace electric vehicles with internal combustion and hybrid vehicles and they should stop producing non-electric cars in 3 three years. The point is that these policies are totally in contrast with Iran’s market demand. There are still no facilities and infrastructures for the construction of electric vehicles in Iran and this seems like a huge obstacle for BAIC.
Nevertheless, nothing is certain for now and we should wait and see that if BAIC is able to cooperate with its most important partner in Middle East or not.
Khodrocar reporter: Fazel Souri
Khodrocar translator: Maziyar Jafarieh
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