Iran plans to revive its global auto sales

Iran plans to take new measures to revive its passenger car exports, to contribute to its auto industry, which is growing following the removal of international sanctions.

Iran’s car export registered a record high in fiscal year ending March 2011, and stood at 81,596; however the figure sharply fell the next year (fiscal year ending March 2012) at 38,258, due to intensified international sanctions which targeted the country’s auto manufacturing industry, Trend News Agency reported.

Exports even decreased to 10,000 in the fiscal year ending March 2014, but revived again following the removal of the international sanctions against Iran’s car industry in 2015.

Iranian automakers exported 27,000 cars in the fiscal year ending March 2015, but they failed to revive the exports to the pre-sanctions period.

Iran’s second-largest auto manufacturer Saipa announced that it has relaunched an assembly line in Syria, which was closed in recent years due to problems in the Middle Eastern country.

Saipa opened a car production line in Syria’s Hasya district, 150 km north of Damascus, in 2007.

In the last 10 years, the Arab country’s auto market shared nearly half of the Iranian car maker’s international sales.

Saipa Deputy CEO for Exports Mohsen Javan said Dec. 19 that the car-making group, has resumed auto manufacturing in Syria to produce cars based on the X200 (such as Tiba and Saina) and X100 (includes different models of Pride and Ario) platforms.

Javan said that Iran exported over 250,000 cars to 40 countries in the past 10 years, of that 100,000 were sold in the Syrian market.

Javan further said that the car-making group is going to dispatch 1,500 vehicles to Lebanon for the first year based on an agreement between the two sides, 400 of which have been sent so far.

Saipa has established its biggest Middle East office in Beirut for constructive marketing and exporting goods, Javan added.

Saipa’s new car model, ‘Quick’, would be exported to Lebanon as well, he said.

Javan also said that the Iranian car-maker has a “detailed plan” for presence in the African auto market, adding that a production plant will be launched in Algeria in the near future, which is planned to play an important role in supplying Saipa products to the countries in Northern Africa.

Saipa earlier said that it plans to export 34,000 vehicles, approximately valued at $200 million, and auto parts worth $20 million in the current fiscal year (beginning in March). The company exported auto parts worth $10 million in the last fiscal year.

Iranian automakers exported 10,000 cars in last fiscal year (ending March 20, 2017), which was 59 percent less compared to the 24,500 cars in the preceding year.

Meanwhile, Mojtaba Khosrotaj, the head of Iran’s Trade Promotion Organization (TPO), announced on Sept. 24 that Iran’s passenger car exports have decreased by 26 percent in terms of value, and 25 percent in terms of volume in the current fiscal year.