According to Khabaronline news agency, the former Director General of the Automobile Industry Office of the Ministry of Samat criticized the lack of a suitable alternative for economic cars and said: We cannot talk about currency imbalance, but instead of producing a car with a currency exchange rate of 3,000 dollars, he focused on importing 30,000 dollar cars.
Fars wrote: Abdallah Tawakuli Lahijani, referring to the need to pay attention to the needs of low-income groups in the policy making of the automobile industry, stated: Once upon a time, critics said that Pride’s fuel consumption was very high at about 7 liters per 100 km, but today, when many assembled and imported cars, especially heavy and bulky SUVs, consume more than 15 liters per 100 km in real operating conditions (not announced figures), many critics of those days Surprised they are silent.
He added: You must remember when there were many criticisms about the low safety of the Pride in traffic accidents, but now that a significant part of the consumers of that market have moved towards using motorcycles with lower levels of safety and more dangerous consequences of accidents, the same critics remained silent yesterday. The low income of the society has been forgotten.
The need to replace Pride with an economical and safe car
The former Director General of the Automobile Industries Office of the Ministry of Somat emphasized: My purpose in expressing these issues is not to defend the continuation of Pride production, but to emphasize the necessity of thinking of a suitable alternative and providing a suitable answer to the needs of this part of the Iranian car market; According to some experts, this market constitutes nearly 50% of the country’s car market.
He stated: In my opinion, stopping this project in the most important car research centers of the country, in a situation where good progress had been made, without considering a suitable alternative for one of the most important parts of the car market, is a big mistake in the governance of the car industry.
Tavakli Lahijani said: The removal of Pride from the choice basket of a large part of low-income households and its effect on the formation of public dissatisfaction with the automobile industry is far beyond the temporary effect of importing luxury cars in this regard.
Pointing to the need to pay attention to currency and energy imbalances, he said: We cannot talk about currency imbalances, but instead of producing a car in the country with a currency exchange rate of 3,000 dollars, he decided to import cars worth 30,000 dollars. Also, it is not possible to talk about energy inefficiency, but instead of developing small and cheap cars, it switched to importing SUVs with consumption of more than 15 liters and pickups with consumption of 20 liters per 100 km.
Revival of economic car projects should be a priority
Emphasizing the necessity of revitalizing domestic product development projects, this automotive industry expert said: domestic product development projects should be revived in coordination with the Environmental Protection Organization and the National Standards Organization so that a better alternative to Pride and motorcycles can be designed and produced to meet the needs of a major part of the Iranian market.
He added: Pursuing the production of these products on an economic scale should be one of the main priorities of the policy makers of the automobile industry.
Tavakoli Lahijani continued: It should be noted that the increase in the variety of products has a social meaning when a wider section of people can have access to a safe and affordable vehicle. Whenever a family is forced to use a motorcycle instead of buying the car they need simply because of financial incapacity, one must ask about the consequences of this displacement and the quality of the choices available to it. The car market cannot be evaluated solely from the point of view of the demand of the highest-income customers.
Blind imitation of European standards harms the automotive industry
Criticizing the disproportionate approaches in standardization, the former Director General of the Automotive Industries Office of the Ministry of Security said: Stopping the production of Pride due to low safety and driving the customers of that market to motorcycles is a clear example of confusion in transportation policy; A situation that can be caused by an incomplete understanding of the transportation category, disregard for the country’s industrial and economic conditions, and blind insistence on European standards.
He added: This issue becomes more important in a situation where even America, as one of the claimants of free economy, by imposing customs tariffs and withdrawing from some environmental obligations, is actually using economic and environmental tools to advance its industrial and economic competition.
Tavakoli Lahijani stated: In such a situation, blindly imitating European standards, regardless of the country’s conditions and while it may cause serious damage to the domestic industry and economy, is worthy of reflection.
Emphasizing that the adoption of European standards should be accompanied by an assessment of the necessity, cost and conditions of their implementation in the country, he said: For example, the daylight lamp is mandatory in the model used in Iran, but it is optional in China and America. Also, unlike the Iranian model, the rear fog breaker is not a general federal requirement in the United States. These differences show that the major car manufacturing countries do not determine the details of the technical requirements in the same way.
The difference between the standards of Iran and China in the field of motorcycles and emissions
Referring to the difference in motorcycle standards in Iran and China, this automotive industry expert said: There are important differences in the field of motorcycles as well. The current Chinese standard accepts the use of ABS or CBS braking system for motorcycles with an engine volume of more than 150 to 250 cc, while the text of the Iranian standard, similar to the European model, requires the use of ABS for some corresponding categories.
He continued: In the field of emissions, in its legal program, Iran has determined the implementation of the Euro 5 standard for domestic production from the beginning of 1404, while China has determined the implementation of the fifth stage of its national standard from January 2029.
Tavakoli Lahijani emphasized: the mentioned examples clarify the necessity of evidence-based standardization. In order to achieve this goal, industrial governance in the field of automobiles must be coherent and all the elements of policy should work in harmony with each other, relying on the development of the country’s industry and economy.
He noted: Every standard requirement must be evaluated in terms of the actual impact on safety and pollution, compatibility with infrastructure, cost of compliance and climatic conditions. Adopting valid and equivalent solutions and setting realistic implementation deadlines can reduce unnecessary production and consumption costs while maintaining safety and environmental goals.
223225
