Iran Traffic Police Chief Questions Import Of Chinese Car Parts

Brigadier General Kamal Hadianfar told Hamshahri Online in an interview Wednesday there were no cars with all components built domestically.

“Why do they import parts from China? Who monitors the quality of these Chinese parts?” he asked. Hadianfar said car manufacturers could learn from the self-sufficiency of the defense industry in making “largest ballistic missiles in the region”.

President Ebrahim Raisi said in October that Iran’s military and nuclear sectors had responded to United States with “great achievements” due to motivation and effort. But, Raisi argued “we have not invested the technology of the missile industries in the automotive industry.”

China has been the world’s largest car maker since 2008, with its output since 2009 higher than US, European Union, and Japan combined. China accounts for 29 percent of world car exports with Saudi Arabia its leading market, and two Chinese electric car manufactures listed on the Nasdaq. But quality of Chinese cars is considered poor, with focus on low prices and high production numbers.

Echoing those in Iran who blame low-quality vehicles for road casualties, Hadianfar criticized January domestic automakers for producing "carriages of death."

A deputy of Iran’s traffic police, Sivash Mohebbi, said Thursday that 322 people had died in the previous week.