Azerbaijan, Baku, Dec. 28/ Trend G.Mehdi/
Iranian carmaker Kerman Motor Company has launched a production line for a new model named J5, Mehr News agency reported.
Mehr quoted the company's managing director Mohammad-Reza Mir-Alinaqi as saying that the car will be manufactured in cooperation with the JACGROUP Company.
The car has been designed and developed by Italian companies and welcomed in different countries, the JACGROUP's deputy director said.
Iran's automobile market is highly protected against imports allowing imports of only 40,000 vehicles last year, despite a steadily growing demand met mainly through domestic production of some 1.6 million cars per year.
Currently there is an estimated amount of 14 million vehicles in Iran, more than double the six million registered in 2005.
Iran's car output in the first six months of the current calendar year (ended on September 21), fell by 42 per cent compared to the same period last year.
A decrease of domestic production and rise of import limitations as well as the dollar price growth led to an unprecedented increase in car prices in Iran.
On September 15, the ILNA news agency reported that prices of different cars increased by around 35 per cent on the average since March 2011.
According to the report the supply has decreased, but demand is still high.
Iran plans to manufacture at least three million cars by 2025 and export some one million, Trade Minister Mehdi Ghazanfari said on June 16.