Tehran, Iran, May 1
By Kamyar Eghbalnejad – Trend:
Managing Director of the Iranian Automaker Group SAIPA Mohsen Jahroudi said the company has no plans to shut down the production line of its infamous Pride car model.
The production line of Pride will not be halted as it is being exported to neighboring Iraq in high numbers annually, Jahroudi told reporters in Tehran on May 1.
SAIPA’s Pride has long been on the top of the sin list whenever there is talk of halting production of low quality cars. The vehicle is notorious for poor mileage, high emission rate, and simply put, a major road hazard.
He added that the low quality vehicle will be phased out of the country’s domestic market, in the future, after all the necessary arrangements are made.
“Some 22,000 units were exported to Iraq in 2017 with a price of $4,250 each,” Jahroudi said.
The vehicles exported to the neighboring country are equipped with two airbags and ABS, he further said, adding exporting Pride cars to the Arab country has become a profitable business for the Islamic Republic.
Iran’s second largest auto manufacturer and its subsidiaries produced 457,967 vehicles during the first ten months of 2017.
The automotive group — which includes SAIPA, Pars Khodro, Zamyad and SAIPA Diesel — sold 440,757 units during the ten-month period.
During the period the four companies earned 120 trillion rials ($3.1 billion) in overall revenue. SAIPA had the biggest share of this income with 67% followed by Pars Khodro - with 26 percent, Zamyad - 4 percent, and SAIPA Diesel - 3 percent.
SAIPA’s X100 platform better known as the Pride and whose quality is long under a question mark, continued to lead in overall production with 233,867 units produced and 232,225 units sold in ten months.