Baku, Azerbaijan, Dec. 1
By Rahim Zamanov - Trend:
Iran imported 36,212 cars in the first eight months of the current Iranian calendar year, which started on March 21.
The figure shows 32 per cent increase compared to the same period of the previous year, the Fars News Agency reported.
The value of the imported cars was around 18.4 trillion rials (some $613.3 million based on the price of USD at the free market).
Only in the eighth calendar month 5,672 cars worth some $127.542 million were imported.
The amounts show 36 and 25.93 per cent increase in terms of number and value compared to the same month last year.
Iran produced 364,807 cars in the first seven months of the current Iranian calendar year, which started on March 21, the IRNA News Agency reported.
Some 311,155 sedan cars, 49,365 pickup trucks, 4,038 trucks, 199 buses, and 50 minibuses were produced in the country in the mentioned period.
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.
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.
Increasing prices of raw materials and foreign currencies are the main problems that the car manufacturers are facing with.
The world's total car production stood at 84,141,209 cars in 2012, which is 5.3 per cent more than last year.