At present, 18 official representations of foreign car brands are active in Iran, said the head of Iran’s Automobile Importers Association.
The latest statistics released by Iran’s Center of Guilds and Merchants (affiliated to the Ministry of Industries, Mining and Trade) indicate that only 30% of all car imports to Iran are carried out through the legal representations and the rest is done independently, Eghtesad News quoted Farhad Ehteshamzad as saying.
The official noted that of all the imported cars, those produced by South Korea’s Hyundai are in highest demand in Iran.
During the first seven months of the current Iranian year (started March 21), Hyundai, Kia and Toyota each held 40%, 17% and 16% of the market share respectively. Other imports during the same period were from Renault (6%), BMW (5%), Chery (4%), SsangYong (3%), Mitsubishi (2%), Mercedes Benz (2%) and MG (2%).
Pointing to the goals set forth in Iran’s 2025 Vision, the official said Iran plans to produce three million vehicles, a third of which is earmarked for export.
“Economic policymakers have projected that the number of cars imported during this period will not exceed a tenth of the number of cars produced,” he said.
In other words, over the next 10 years, 300,000 vehicles will be imported annually.
Iran currently imports an average of 50,000 vehicles per annum.
