Iran's car exports drop 24%
Source: Tehran Times
Iran's car exports dropped by 24 percent in the first Iranian calendar month of Farvardin (March 21-April 20), the ISNA News Agency reported on Tuesday. The country exported just 685 cars in the mentioned period of time. Iraq was the main destination for the Iranian cars, accounting for 98 percent of imports.
The value of cars exports fell by 45.5 percent year on year, standing at $4 million.
Iran exported about $70 million worth of cars in the previous Iranian calendar year.
In February, Iranian MP Ali Alilou of the Majlis Industries and Mines Committee said Iran was planning to cut all car import tariffs to zero in two year's time.
He said the measure was necessary to boost domestic production and make the auto industry competitive. The MP urged the government to stop propping up Iran's struggling automobile sector, since its products are widely criticized in the country for their low quality and high prices.
The automobile industry, the biggest non-oil sector of the Iranian economy, constituting around 10 percent of gross domestic product (GDP), boomed over the decade ending in 2011 due to the backing of the government and the dearth of international competitors in the domestic market. The administration of former president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad increased car import duties as much as 90 percent in 2013, a measure that experts believe led to a marked deterioration of quality in the Iranian market, which is dominated by the triopoly of the three major car manufacturers: Iran Khodro, Pars Khodro, and Saipa.
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Iran's car exports drop 24%