February 13– In the past months, Iran’s largest vehicle manufacturing companies released announcements encouraging consumers to pre-order cars at discounted rates.
Many people registered to purchase vehicles from Iran Khodro and Saipa. But their purchases haven’t been delivered to them, which has triggered protests in different cities.
In early January, both companies canceled discounts and declared new prices, which caused shock and fury among thousands of their customers. Customers who registered for vehicles like Brilliance in the summer of 2018 faced a heavy financial loss.
According to the customers, they could purchase the same vehicle in last summer at a lower cost. The customers registered for Brilliance at $2,750 as down payment while the full price of Brilliance was more than $6,000. In January, the companies declared an additional $6,000 payment would be required to receive the purchases.
Many customers demanded refund, but the companies declared that they might only refund the purchases 3 months later. Manufacturing companies also declared they will not deliver the vehicles to customers for at least 60 days.
The customers have found themselves in a situation where they will be on the losing end no matter what happens. And that’s why they have joined to the line of thousands of demonstrators across Iran.
Protest against corruption of state-backed companies has become a common scene across Iran.