Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct. 23
By Fatih Karimov– Trend:
Over 70 percent of Iran’s car imports came from the UAE during the first half of the current fiscal year (started March 20, 2017), Iranian Automobile Importers Association announced.
The Islamic Republic imported 44,695 cars, worth $1.194 billion in the period, 21 percent more year-on-year.
At least 31,500 cars were imported from the UAE, which makes 70 percent of the total imports.
The UAE is one of the economies which act as re-exporting intermediaries to Iran.
Over 75 percent of cars, imported into Iran have came through third countries, which indicates that intermediary countries have managed to protect their lion share from Iran’s import, despite the fact that the international sanctions against Tehran were removed in 2016. The result is a higher price compared to direct imports from the producers.
France ranked third among the auto exporters to Iran with 2,672 vehicles or 6 percent share of Iran’s total imports, followed by China (1,914 cars or 4 percent), South Korea (1,689 cars, 4 percent share), Germany (4 percent), Turkey (3 percent) and Kuwait (2 percent).
Renault was the top imported brand in the six-month period with 30 percent share from the market, followed by Hyundai (18 percent), Toyota (14 percent), Nissan and Kia.
Renault’s share from imports has registered an 18-percent rise, meanwhile the share of Hyundai and Toyota from total imports decreased by 14 and 5 percent, respectively, according to Farhad Ehteshamzadeh, the head of Iran's Automobile Importers Association.