Baku, Azerbaijan, Nov.30
By Fatih Karimov - Trend:
Iranian carmaker Saipa manufactures 75 percent of it needed parts domestically.
Parts are manufactured without any participation of foreign companies, Saipa managing director Saeid Madani said, Iran's IRIB reported on Nov. 30.
He added that 20 percent of Saipa cars are manufactured under the license of renowned international carmakers.
Foreign partners are required to transfer technology and establish car parts production lines in Iran, he noted.
Saipa is the second largest Iranian auto manufacturer. Saipa was established in 1966, with 75 percent Iranian ownership, to assemble Citroëns under license for the Iranian market. Nowadays it builds mainly Korean cars, but has also developed its own engine and range of cars.
Sanctions on Iranian car makers were suspended in the interim nuclear deal of November 2013 with the aim of easing Iran's ability to import parts.
Car production in Iran increased by 71.4 percent in the first seven months of the current Iranian calendar year (March 21-October 22), compared to the same period in the previous year.
The automobile industry, the biggest non-oil sector of the Iranian economy, constituting around 10 percent of gross domestic product (GDP), boomed over the decade ending in 2011 due to government support and the dearth of international competitors in the domestic market.