Iranian Automakers Produce One Million Plus Cars in 10 Months to Jan 2017

The total number of cars produced in Iran reached 1,087,958 in the ten-month period from March 21, 2016 to the January 19. 

Latest data shows a considerable uptick in production during the current Iranian fiscal year with foreign and local companies seeking a bigger share of the market with several new models.

The one million plus vehicle production shows a year-on-year increase of 39% with local producers picking up gradually after three years of decline due to the international economic sanctions. 

Cars had the largest share in the output with 1,012,249 units, up by 41.2% y/y, www.shatanews.ir reported on Friday.

 Pride Leads in Production

SAIPA’s Pride was at the top of the list in the 10-month period with 164,384 units rolling out of the factory. The company’s second popular model was the Tiba family, with 84,579.

Furthermore the company assembled 10,937 units of the South Korean company  Kia’s Cerato. 

As for the largest carmaker Iran Khodro Company, the numbers were as follows:  the Peugeot 405 (123,486 units), Peugeot 206 (128,842 units), Peugeot Pars (99,778 units) and Samand (84,064 units). 

IKCO also rolled out 22,110 units of Dena and 10,863 units of Runna during the ten months. 

Top Chinese brands made in Iran during the period were MVM (43,468 units), JAC and Lifan (31,643 units), Brilliance (27,117 units), Haima (2,564 units), Changan (2,799 units) and FAW (933 units). 

Furthermore, the popular Japanese models assembled included Mazda (2,379 units) and Suzuki (1,653 units). 

France’s Renault also showed positive numbers with the long-produced Tondar 90 (combined) producing 74,160 units and the recently released Sandero at 27,186 units.  

In the ten-month period, 63,862 pickup trucks (vanettes) and 10,213 heavy vehicles  were also manufactured -- up by 13.3% and 21.5% respectively compared to the same period last year.

The website said bus and coach production is slowing getting back on track. Only 838 large buses and 632 minibuses were manufactured during the 10-month period. However, the figures grew by 39.9% for larger buses and 24.3% for minibuses respectively. 

 Monthly Production Numbers

In the last Iranian month of Dey (Dec. 21, 2016-Jan. 19), more than 137,851 vehicles (cars, vans and trucks) were produced, up 37.5% on the corresponding period in the last year with 100,249 vehicles.  

Moreover, 130,046 cars were produced during the 30 days, again making up the largest component of auto production and up 42.7% y/y. 

SAIPA’s Pride continued to lead in overall production with 42,420 waiting to be sold or pre-ordered. This indicates a direct m/m increase of 16.2% in production. 

Accordingly in the last month local automakers produced 5,758 small pickups (vanettes) in one month, a m/m production increase of 9.9%. 

 Pre-Sanctions Comparison

Before the sanctions were tightened in 2012, the domestic auto industry was in a much higher gear. 

In 2011, total vehicle production stood at 1.6 million. Iran Khodro exported to more than 25 countries and had assembly lines in Azerbaijan, Belarus, Syria, Venezuela, Senegal and Iraq. 

The one million plus vehicle output shows that the industry is finally beginning to pick up after several years in the doldrums. The government said it expects auto production to reach over 1.35 million units before the end of the calendar year in March. 

At current production rates and the likely push by carmakers to reduce inventories before the Iranian New Year (Nowruz), the government announced higher target is not beyond reach. The weeks before the annual two-week holiday season, which also marks the arrival of spring, is usually a busy time for the car producers and their dealerships.