Luxury cars stored in the parking lots of the Appropriated Properties Organization cannot be released nor will they receive license plates, said the head of the organization's Tehran office.
To maintain a balance between locally produced and imported cars, the government introduced regulatory measures. A ban was placed on the import of vehicles with engine capacities higher than 2.5 liters and so far the government has managed to keep these cars out of reach.
Mansour Hajizadeh added that the organization has seized cars with engine capacities higher than 2.5 liters, which cannot be sold or leased, Mehr News Agency reported. The only solution, according to the official, is for the vehicles to be shipped out of the country. "Negotiations are underway for the cars to be shipped back by dealerships that originally brought them in," he said.
Hajizadeh said "the number is not large enough to be mentioned".
However, a May 15 report on local television noted that a yard in the country's south had at least 50 Porsches, Mercedes-Benz, Lexus and Maserati covered in dust. The number of such yards across the country is not known and whether dealers have been fined for attempting to import these vehicles.
Iran has capped the import of large engine cars partly due to the rising number of expensive cars on the roads and public disenchantment growing over the widening economic disparity.
Last year, a young couple died while speeding down a Tehran street in a luxury car, causing many in the country to criticize the government for allowing the entry of such large engine cars.
