Baku, Azerbaijan, Sept. 5
By Umid Niayesh - Trend:
Iran has imported 43,986 sedan cars, worth $865.15 million during the 5-month period from March 21 to Aug. 23, which is almost 2.5 times more compared to the same months of the preceding year (Iran's fiscal year starts on March 21).
Iran's sedan imports registered a sharp rise by 157 percent in terms of amount and 143 percent in terms of value during that period, according to the Iranian Customs Administration's latest monthly report which was released on Sept. 2.
The Islamic Republic only imported 9,852 sedan cars in the calendar month of Mordad(July 23- Aug. 23), 126 percent more in comparison with the same month of last year.
It is while the country's car production has started to rise significantly after two years of decline thanks to suspended western sanctions on the country's carmakers.
Western countries suspended certain sanctions against Iran as the Geneva nuclear deal came into force on January 20. Iran was permitted to import materials for its auto manufacturing sector as a result of the nuclear deal implementation.
Iranian carmakers manufactured 404,010 vehicles in the first five months of the current Iranian fiscal year, a 73.4 percent rise year on year.
Also over 345,200 sedan cars were produced in the 5-month period, showing a 74.3 percent rise compared to the same period in the past year.
Based on official statistics, Iranian carmakers produced 624,000 cars in Iranian year 1392 (March 2013-March 2014), a 29 percent and 55 percent decrease annually compared to the last two years respectively.
The country produced 989,110 cars in 2012, which made it Asia's eighth largest car manufacturer. Iran's automobile output faced a 40 percent decrease in 2012 due to sanctions. The country was Asia's 5th largest car manufacturer in 2011, with a total output of 1,648,505.
The World Bank has put Iran's GDP at $369 billion in 2013, compared with $528 billion in 2011. The car industry's share of GDP is currently about 1.7 percent.
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