Azerbaijan, Baku, Sep.24/ Trend F.Karimov/
An Iranian automaker has signed a deal with an international company to design and manufacture a car platform for the first time in the country, the Mehr News Agency reported.
The report has not revealed the names of the Iranian and the foreign companies.
All the car platforms which are currently used in Iran have been developed based on foreign technology.
The foreign company pledged to design the platform so that all its parts and components can be manufactured domestically.
In November 2012, the Mehr News Agency reported that the first Iranian made car powered by a national diesel engine would hit the market by March 2015.
The national diesel engine with a 1500CC capacity, 110hp output, and 5.2 litres per hundred kilometre fuel consumption, meets Euro-5 and Euro-6 standards.
In October 2012, ISNA reported that the first all-Iranian car will be supplied to the market by March 2014.
Iran Khodro and Saipa, the two key Iranian carmakers have previously introduced a number of domestically built cars so far, namely the Samand, Runna, and Tiba.
However, this is the first time a car will be built on a platform which has been designed and developed through the use of Iranian expertise.
It is projected that 10-12 cars in different classes will be manufactured on the Iranian-made platform.
Iran's car production stood at 359,670 during the first half of 2013 which indicates a fall of 38.5 per cent compared to the same period last year, Organisation Internationale des Constructeurs d'Automobiles(OICA) reported.
According to the report, Iran ranked 21st in the world in terms of car production during the period.
The country produced 310,600 cars and 49,070 commercial vehicles during the first six months of the 2013.
Iran produced some 1,013,561 cars including 141,564 commercial vehicles during 2012 and stood at 16th place among the world's car producers.
Iran's automobile output faced a 40 per cent decrease in 2012. The country was Asia's fifth largest car manufacturer in 2011with a total output of 1,649,311.
Increasing prices of raw materials and foreign currencies are the main problems the car manufacturers are facing.
It should be recalled that on July 1, the U.S. imposed a new round of sanctions against anyone involved in Iran's auto industry and caught using Iranian currency the rial, for 'significant transactions'.
According to the statistics, about 69 automobile manufacturer units have been closed and 115,000 people lost their jobs in the automobile sector of Iran during the past two years.