Former Minister Made the Situation Difficult for Importers
Mohammadreza Nematzade ended his career while his decisions for car importers made them suffer.
Khodrocar – The eleventh government’s document that was made in order to organize the imported automotive market, had very bad side effects for this it.
As other sectors of the economy, imported automotive market was not favorable when the eleventh government began his work. There was not any organization which control the car imports and that was the thing the customers didn’t like at all.
On the other hand, importation of luxury automotive brand was one of the ninth parliament’s most important challenge. Some believed that the importation of luxury car brands will cause social gap and this made the Ministry of Industry, Mining and Trade to make illogical decisions.
The ban on luxury car imports with incorrect metrics
The most important decision in this regard, was prohibition of automotive imports with more than 2500cc of engine displacement; This decision was made in order to prevent the importation of luxury brands in Iran. A criterion that all the experts and car industry activists consider it to be the worst criteria for defining luxury cars.
Instructions for automotive imports
One of the most effective decisions that the eleventh government made was the approval of automotive imports’ instructions.
According to this instruction, all importing companies should provide warranty and after-sales services for their imported products, so the miscellaneous importers were forced to pay the official dealers in order to buy after-sale services.
Gray Market Removal
According to the instructions for automotive imports, the Ministry of Industry has forcibly required importers to obtain official agency licenses from parent companies without intermediaries.
The gray markets were one of the sanctions side effects.
The Ministry of Industry appointed a period of six months for the importers to obtain their official agency licenses but the car registration system was closed to unofficial importers before the deadline.
Vice President’s Instruction for Importers
Last December, when the currency market got messed up, Vice President Eshaq Jahangiri made an instruction for this market, which only the official agencies were allowed to import.
According to the Instruction, in order to control the currency market, intermediary companies were no longer allowed to imports cars. This situation ended thanks to Iranian Automobile Importers Association.
Draft of an Instruction in Favor of Car Manufacturers
Last year, automotive importers were furious about the "Instructions for Organizing Automotive Imports”. The Ministry of Industry, Mining and Trade said that this instruction is set to increase the volume of national production but it seems that it is set to remove the rivals of two major Iran auto makers.
This instruction is not approved yet.
Importers Were Removed
But the worst action of the former Minister of Industry was the closure of car registration website for the official agencies. One month left until the end of Nematzade’s career, he ordered to close the car registration website. At first, he didn’t take the responsibility and then he stated that this action was in order to prevent expansion of imported cars. Mojtaba Khosrotaj, Head of Development and Trade Organization also supported this decision.
Now, there is hope that the new Minister will change this messed up situation and make a rational solution to the balance of the car market.
Reporter: Asal Dadashloo
Latest News