The latest statistics released by the Ministry of Industries, Mining and Trade show that only car and pickup production edged up in the first quarter of the Iranian year (started March 20).
During this period (March 20-June 20), 265,105 cars were produced, indicating a 0.5% year-on-year increase, Eghtesad News reported.
This is while in the corresponding figure of last year, Iranian automakers manufactured 263,686 cars.
Statistics show that the production of pickup trucks increased by 17.6%. Last year, 15,874 pickups were made in Q1, while this year the figure was 18,675 units.
Unlike passenger cars and pickups, the number of minibuses, buses and trucks declined in Q1.
The production of minibuses dropped by 56.3%. Last year, 112 minibuses were produced in Q1, which number was only 49 this year.
During this period, 90 buses were manufactured, down by 54.8% from last year's 199 units.
The production of trucks also decreased by 41.7%. Last year, 3,108 trucks were made while this year the figure stood at 1,813.
The number of cars produced by Iran Khodro Company in Q1 declined by 4.6% compared to last year. Having made a total of 135,000 cars in Q1, IKCO remains the largest auto manufacturer of the country.
SAIPA manufactured 107,000 vehicles during this period, marking a 14.1% year-on-year increase.
According to ISNA, in the month ending June 20, SAIPA produced a total of 106,554 cars, up by 5.9% from last year's 100,606.
The production of passenger cars increased by 6.5%. A total of 98,568 passenger cars were produced in the month ending June 20. During the same period, last year 92,512 passenger cars were made.
Pickup production also increased during this period and 7,291 units were made. This tells of a 6.5% year-on-year increase compared to last year's 6,883 units.
In the 30-day period ending June 20, 20 minibuses were manufactured, which indicate a 47.4% decline compared to last year's 38.
Furthermore, 31 buses were produced during this period, down by 26.2% compared to last year's 42.
