ISQI is a private firm working on contract with Industries Ministry.
The vehicles are ranked from one to a maximum of five stars. According to its charts, none of the cars made by major Iranian auto manufacturers, Iran Khodro (IKCO) and SAIPA, received more than four stars.
The cars are classified in five price ranges, from the lowest costing 870 million rials ($3,411) to the highest of above 2 billion rials ($7,840). The price category is based on the vehicles’ factory price, while the vehicles are sold in the open market at much higher prices.
Four-Star Champs
As per the new ranking, three IKCO cars, including Haima S7, Peugeot 207 and Dena Plus, earned four stars, ISQI reported.
The production of Haima S7 commenced in 2015 with 40% of the Chinese SUV's parts manufactured locally.
The S7 is available with both manual and automatic transmission options and has a 2-liter engine.
The Peugeot 207 model has almost the same exterior design as the popular Peugeot 206 with slight modifications. Offered with automatic and manual gearboxes, it is priced at 1.5 and 2 billion rials ($5,960 and $7,840).
Dena had been initially announced in April 2011. However, due to sanctions imposed on Iran Khodro and the pullout of it partner PSA Peugeot-Citroen in 2012, the project was mothballed due to lack of parts and funding.
Mass-production of the sedan did not begin until 2013, when criticism of IKCO over delays in marketing the car mounted. The vehicle only arrived on Iranian streets in autumn 2014 with the numbers in the low thousands. Dena is sold at 1.6 billion rials ($6,500) by the company.
Three-Star Winners
Based on the charts, most car models managed to garner three stars.
In the top price range (the most expensive), Cherry’s Tiggo 7, a Chinese SUV assembled by Modiran Khodro tops the list. The model is offered at 2 billion rials ($7,840) by the company.
Kerman Motor’s assembled JAC S5 — a Chinese crossover — and its “little brother” JAC S3, along with Modiran Khodro’s Tiggo 5 earned three stars in the second price range.
Iran Khodro's Peugeot 206, Rana and Peugeot Pars — a facelifted version of Peugeot 405 with automatic gearbox — also hold three stars in the third price group.
All models produced by IKCO’s rival company, SAIPA, earned three stars in the quality assessment. The models include Quick, Tiba, Tiba 2 and Saina, all in the fourth price group.
Two-Star Losers
Based on the charts, Modiran Khodro’s MVM X33s and Iran Khodro’s Peugeot 405 earned a two-star ranking.
Unveiled in 2016 in Iran, MVM X33s is a local variant of China's Chery Tiggo 3.
The model is equipped with Chamonix 7-speed CVT auto transmission.
Iran Khodro’s Peugeot 405, which is now being phased out of the production line, suffers from several safety failures, never earning more than two stars in the ISQI ranking system, according to the organization.
The model is a large family car released by the French automaker Peugeot in July 1987, which continues to be manufactured under license outside France, having been discontinued in Europe in 1997.
Iran Khodro started the production of the car in the mid-1990s. The company also produced several models derived from the 405. The Peugeot Pars, also known as Peugeot Persia, is a facelifted 405 version with a redesigned front end, including clear lamp lenses and a revamped rear.
Samand, which was designed to be “the national car" of Iran, is also based on the 405 platform.
Arisun model is another IKCO brand heavily based on the 405 model. It is a coupe utility car under production since 2015.
Retired Killer Machine
SAIPA’s small city car, Pride, which had been made in Iran for decades, never earned more than one star in ISQI’s quality ranking.
Due to its serious safety failures and quality issues, the production of the model was stopped in June.
Pride was originally developed for Japanese and South Korean markets in the late 1980s. The car was widely sold in the United States as a Ford Festiva in the early 1990s. It entered the Iranian market in 1993 under license from Kia and has continued to be a cash cow for SAIPA.
Three years ago, the Institute of Standards and Industrial Research of Iran and Iran’s Automotive Policymaking Council set new automotive standards and gave a two-year ultimatum to automakers to comply.
The production of vehicles that fail to comply with 83 automotive standards was expected to be halted by the end of 2018. SAIPA's Pride topped the elimination list.
Phasing out the model took longer than expected, but Pride was finally retired, leaving behind a huge number of road accident mortalities.
A recent study conducted on Iranian road traffic accidents recorded over the past decade showed that Pride was involved in one-third of the fatalities.
Road accidents claimed 206,049 lives in the 11 years ending March 2019, data from Iranian Legal Medicine Organization show.
According to the research findings, up to 34% of the figure, constituting 70,056 victims, died in a Pride car.
“Speaking of driving safety, drivers’ adherence to traffic regulations is of the highest importance, but a vehicle’s quality also matters. Pride lacks the required standards of a regular passenger car and leads to an average of 3.8 deaths in each crash,” the National Traffic Police Chief General Kamal Hadianfar earlier told the media.