Azerbaijan, Baku, Oct.12 /Trend F.Karimov/
Renowned foreign car part makers have voiced interest in returning to the Iranian market, ISNA quoted deputy managing director of Iran's Mega Motor Company Majid Amiri as saying.
All the renowned European car part makers refer to Iran as a profitable market, though some limitation exist which should be removed, he added.
Indeed, we prefer supporting domestic car part makers in order to replace foreign companies in the market, he noted.
On October 5, ISNA reported that some 21 car brands hold 95 percent of share in the Iranian market.
According to studies which were carried out in the past Iranian calendar year (March 2012-March 2013), 21 car brands hold 41 percent of the market share.
These car brands include: MVM 110 (Chinese Chery QQ, produced by Iranian Modiran Vehicle Manufacturing Company, MVM), Saipa Tiba, Peugeot ROA (produced by Iran Khodro Co), and Pride (KIA Pride, assembled by Saipa).
Peugeot Pars, Renault Tondar 90 (Renault Logan, produced in Iran), Peugeot 206, Peugeot 207, Great Wall, MVM 530 (Chery A5, produced by MVM) Samand Soren, Lifan, MVM 315, Iran Khodro Runna, Samand EF7, and Peugeot 405 hold 53 percent of the market share.
Iranian carmakers manufactured 1.6 cars in the Iranian calendar year 1389 (March 2010-March 2011), but the output will hardly reach 600,000 in the current year which ends in March 2014, IRIB quoted industry ministry's public relations manager Manouchehr Tahaei as saying.
Iran Khodro and Saipa, the two Iranian main carmakers, have 80 trillion rials (about $3.2 billion) and 60 trillion rials (about $2.4 billion) debt respectively, he added.
The domestic car manufacturers are facing a difficult situation, he said, adding that some of the carmakers have experienced 100 percent drop in their outputs.
On June 3, the U.S. Treasury Department announced a new round of sanctions against anyone involved in Iran's auto industry and anyone caught using Iran's currency, the rial, for "significant transactions."
Iran produced 989,110 cars in 2012, which made the country Asia's eighth largest car manufacturer.
Iran also stood at the world's 18th place, the ISNA News Agency reported.
China, Japan, South Korea, India, Thailand, Turkey, and Indonesia were Asia's seven largest car manufacturers.
Iran's automobile output faced 40 per cent decrease in 2012. The country was Asia's 5th largest car manufacturer in 2011, with a total output of 1,648,505.