Iran vehicle output down 2.9% in year to March

Iran’s vehicle output declined slightly in the year to late March, shows figures by the Iranian ministry of industries (MIMT), amid government plans to introduce reforms in major automotive companies to boost both quality and quantity of the cars produced inside the country.

MIMT figures cited in a Wednesday report by the official IRNA agency showed that vehicle output had reached a total of 963,179 in the calendar year to March 20, down 2.9% from the year to March 2021.

The report said that cars had accounted for over 90% of Iran’s annual vehicle output as total car production in two major automotive companies and a handful of smaller firms reached 868,130 units, a decline of 3.9% against the previous year.

Pickup truck production declined by 1% over the past calendar year to a total of 79,751 units, showed the figures.

That comes as annual production of van, truck and tractor unit  in Iran more than doubled to reach 12,382 units, said the IRNA report.

Iran’s manufacturing exports at over $4bn in 11 months to February

Manufacturing accounted for nearly 10% of Iranian exports in the 11 months to late February.

Domestic output recorded a major decline in the month to late March as companies manufactured just over 60,000 vehicles, down 24.4% against the similar month in 2021.

MIMT figures showed that two major automotive companies in Iran, namely the IKCO and Saipa, had recorded output declines of 6.7% and 5.5%, respectively, over the year to late March.

The figures come amid announcements by the Iranian government authorities that they are going to introduce sweeping reform plans in the Iranian car manufacturing sector.

The plans are mainly aimed at boosting the quality of the domestically-manufactured cars although the MIMT has also set targets to significantly raise output levels at IKCO and Saipa in the years to come.

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