SAIPA left behind its longtime rival car manufacturer, Iran Khodro Company (IKCO), in the first half of the year (Iranian year started March 21, 2006) by substantial gap, the Persian service of ISNA reported.This was the first time ever, the manufacturer of popular Pride passenger cars outran the IKCO in over a decade-long competition. Thanks to production of 195,450 Prides in the first six months which outpaced the record annual production of past-time favorite of Iran's auto market, the bygone Paykan.
The period witnessed total of 222,520 passenger and commercial vehicles churned out by SAIPA, whereas IKCO had to be happy with 175,000. The figure is still far off from the announced annual production of 600,000.
