More than 610,000 cars were manufactured during the first half of the current year, recording an increase of nearly 72 percent in comparison with the same period last year, Javad Taghavi Sabzevari, the deputy minister of industry, mine and trade, announced on Monday.
“The presales of Saipa and Iran Khodro cars during the first half of the current year rose by 64%, while total auto sales increased by 58% in the same period,” he was quoted by IRNA as saying.
Sabzevari, who is also the director of the Organization for the Protection of Consumers and Producers (OPCP), added, “Carmakers have to announce their annual plans for car production, and OPCP is ready to help them, in case they lag behind their projections.”
He further said that the carmakers are obliged to fulfill their commitments to the consumers, noting that they will be held accountable by OPCP’s regulations, should they fail doing so.
“Foreign carmakers must comply with the terms of the new contracts when starting joint ventures with Iranian carmakers,” Sabzevari added, warning of the possible consequences in case they fail to stick to the terms of the contracts. “If that happens, it’s going to result in severe fluctuations in Iran’s car market.”
Representatives from major companies - more than 400 top-ranking industry executives – are expected to participate in the 2nd International Conference on Iran’s Auto Industry, which is to be held on December 1st in Tehran.
Iran’s auto industry has suffered for the past few years from international sanctions imposed by the West amid a dispute over Tehran’s nuclear energy program. In 2011, Iran was Peugeot’s largest market after France, accounting for more than 13 percent of the firm’s global deliveries.
Spooked by international sanctions, Peugeot left Iran in spring 2012.
Iran Khodro CEO Hashem Yekeh Zareh stated last month that “we are not going to work with foreign firms in the way we used to do.” He pointed out that “mutual investment is the prime condition to cooperation with foreign companies,” in a sign that IKCO wants explicit transfers of technologies, physical capital and know-how to Iran.
