Auto Parts Industry Unfriendly to Imports

EghtesadOnline: The director of Iran’s Auto Parts Dealers Guild, Ghulam Reza Bakhshizade, has dismissed claims by several auto industry experts that the main problem with Iran’s auto parts sector is smuggling.

News ID: ۷۷۶۳۴۰

20 May 2017

In a talk with local automotive website Donyaye Khodro, he said, “Contrary to claims that smuggled auto parts are the main problem of the auto market, it is actually the widespread legal imports of inferior and non-genuine parts that continue to be the major problem for parts makers.”

Bakhshizade was referring to auto parts imported under the ‘alias’ of European firms, while in reality they were produced by low-quality uncertified Chinese firms disguised as genuine.

He said, “Since import tariffs for auto parts are low, smuggling would not be economically viable.”

The guild official maintained, “It can be said that the share of contraband auto parts in the domestic auto market is meager and thus inconsequential.”

According to Bakhshizade, one of the ways to counter fake parts is to strengthen oversight and monitoring procedures by the Customs Administration and Iran Standard and Quality Inspection Company (ISQI), Financial Tribune reported.

On the issue of genuine Chinese auto parts, he said, “Several Iranian firms have partnered with Chinese automakers and are importing from that country. A great portion of the auto parts are produced by the Chinese firms under the license of European businesses.”

He went on to say that “These auto parts have standard quality and are priced even lower than locally made parts.”

But his concern with this segment of Chinese products was the low price rather than the deception of customers by labeling them as ‘made Europe’.

Locally produced auto parts are mostly used by domestic carmakers and sold through their sales network. Furthermore, the price of local products is usually higher than their Chinese and even European equivalents in some cases.

Bakhshizade  proposed a new scheme for inspecting the market. “By giving legal authority to the guild to shut down business selling fake auto parts, the presence of non-genuine parts can be curbed.”

Task forces have been created earlier and inspect auto parts dealer shops across the country, he added.