Automotive industry in Iran

First bus imported to Iran (Qajar era)

The Paykan Product of Iran National (Current Iran Khodro) was Iran's most popular automobile from its introduction in 1967 to its discontinuation in 2005 And after stopping the production, it still gained a lot of sales and popularity.

In the 1960s, lacking the technical know-how and unable to produce its own automobiles, Iran invited Western firms in order to start a domestic automobile industry. Since then, Iran has developed its domestic industry where it can design and assemble cars on its own, including a new car factory in Kashan. The average operating margin of the five major Iranian automakers dropped by 1% from 13% to 12% in 2011.[9] The seven development phases of Iran's automotive industry have been:[10][11]

Iran Khodro is the largest car manufacturer in the Middle-East. It has established joint-ventures with foreign partners on 4 continents Samand, Iran's first car, and Iran Khodro were sold in many countries.

Dena Plus Iran Khodro 2019 product.

In 2008, IDRO reported that SAIPA accounts for 54 percent and Iran Khodro for 46 percent of the output.[15] Although carmakers are listed on the stock exchange, the government still owns about 40 percent of both companies.[16] In July 2010, the government sold a further 18% stake in both Iran Khodro and Saipa for about $2 billion in total, bringing down its participation in both companies to about 20%.[17][18] In August, both deals were cancelled by the Iranian Privatization Organization. No clear reason was given for the cancellation of the deals, but analysts believe that discontent over the prices at which the blocks were traded is the most likely reason.[19] Unofficial estimates put the sector’s debt to Iranian banks as high as 100 trillion rials ($4 billion).[20]

The other car manufacturers, such as Azhitechs,[21] Bahman Group, Rakhsh Khodro, Kerman Motors, Kish Khodro, Raniran, Traktorsazi, Shahab Khodro, and others together produced only 6%. These automakers produce a wide range of automobiles including motorbikes, passenger cars, vans, mini trucks, medium-sized trucks, heavy duty trucks, minibuses, large size buses and other heavy automobiles used in commercial and private activities in the country. Iran Khodro Diesel has a dominant market share (+70%) in bus, truck and van production.[1]

Iran with having a fleet of 7 million passenger cars, buses and trucks ranked the world’s 16th biggest automaker and one of the largest in Asia in 2006 with annual production above 1 million units and 1.3 million in 2009,[22] resulting in almost 1.5 percent of total world production of vehicles and 1 car per 10 person.[8] Iran's fleet reached 11.5 million cars by 2020 and 14 million by 2014 (half of which are dilapidated).[20][23][24]

Sixty percent of passenger cars produced in 2008 will use natural gas as fuel or will be dual-fuel, and the remaining 40 percent will run on regular gasoline (2008). Some problems faced by the industry are slow deliveries of cars, lack of after sales services and low quality in the production of some cars.[25][26] Car production in Iran has increased 445% between 1998 and 2008.[1] In July 2013, sanctions imposed by the USA prevented Iranian companies from importing the vehicle parts upon which domestic cars rely; this caused Iran to cede its place to Turkey as the region’s top vehicle manufacturer.[27][28][29] Because of sanctions on spare parts by France's Peugeot and Renault, car production in Iran dropped by as much as 40% in 2012 before recovering somewhat in 2014 following the Geneva interim agreement.[30] In 2014, Iranian car companies produced 1,090,846 cars and commercial vehicles, of which 925,975 were cars and 164,871 were other vehicles.

More than half of the vehicles in Iran are over 10 years old (2009).[31] The government has sought to upgrade the local fleet and the authorities aim to pull some 200,000 outmoded vehicles off the road each year, underpinning demand.[8] According to estimates the demand stood at 1.5 million vehicles in 2007, which could not be met by the local producers.[32] Auto manufacturing industry's share in gross national product is two percent and Iran's auto production rate in the global markets is 1.7 percent (2008).[33] Previously buyers had been purchasing vehicles outright in cash, but now over half of all new car sales are through finance companies or on lease purchase schemes.[34]

IKCO EF Engines are four-cylinder engines. The EF7 series are designed jointly by Iran Khodro Powertrain Company (IPCO) and F.E.V GmbH of Germany.

Sapco and Sazeh Gostar are the respective purchasing arms of Iran Khodro and Saipa (the two largest Iranian auto manufacturers).[3] The Iranian automotive parts industry consists of approximately 1200 companies (15,000 factories), which include those affiliated to vehicle manufacturers as well as independent firms. The industry consists of two primary sectors: Original Equipment Manufacturing (OEM) suppliers, which produce parts for auto makers, and After-Market Parts Manufacturers (AMPM), which produce replacement parts for vehicles.[41] Over 39 countries purchase Iranian auto parts (2008).[8][42] As of 2014, 10 tire manufacturing units are operating across the country with a production capacity of 240,000 tons per annum. They meet 70 percent of the domestic tire demand (11 million tires per year).[43] As of 2015, 60% of auto spare parts in the Iranian market are imported from foreign countries. Most cars are produced in Iran under licence from foreign manufacturers and it depends on them for critical imports, ranging from pistons, cylinder heads, valves, starters, alternators, airbags to computer chips (incl. engine control units and sensors).[44][45] The media has reported that the IRGC is cooperating with the auto industry ( including 32 domestic part makers) to remedy these deficiencies.[46][47]

Since 2020, Iranian manufacturers are also producing parts such as automotive immobilizers, electronic control units, oxygen sensors, electric seats, electric steering, six-speed automatic transmission, polymeric materials, modulators, injectors, airbags, multimedia, direct current (DC) motors, all types of electrical sensors and digital front amplifier.

Saipa Diesel New Budsun NB8 (right) vs. Saipa Diesel Budsun (left)

There are over 25 automakers in Iran, actively producing both light and heavy vehicles. They are in joint venture with companies such as Dongfeng (China), Peugeot, Citroen (France), Volkswagen (Germany), Nissan (Japan), Toyota (Japan), Kia Motors (South Korea), Proton (Malaysia), Chery (China) and many other established producers of light and heavy vehicles such as Renault (France), BMW, Mercedes Benz (Germany), Daewoo and Hyundai (South Korea) have emerged since 1991.[8][24][41] Italian carmaker Fiat has also announced of plans to begin production of its Siena sedan in Iran in 2008.[39]

Chery Automobile (China) in August 2007 entered into a US$370m joint venture with Iran Khodro, Iran to produce cars for West and South Asian markets. Chery Automobile is to hold 30% of the venture, and Khodro will hold 49%. Solitac, a Canadian front company, is to hold the remaining 21% of the venture. The factory will be in the Iranian city of Babol.[50] Anhui Ankai Automobile (also of China) signed a deal in January 2008 with ARG-Diesel Iran to supply it with 600 buses, valued at €51.35m. The deal is to be complete by October 2008.[50]

Iran annually needs some 4,000 buses for its domestic transportation. Since the 1970s, Iran has been producing a number of different buses, such as German Mercedes and MAN as well as Swedish Scania and Volvo that it has exported throughout Asia.[51] Daewoo Bus Corp. and an Iranian automaker Ardebil Sabalan Khodrow-Maywan have teamed up to build buses in Iran. The plant, which is slated to be completed by March 2010, would have a production capacity of 2,000 buses per year and would produce some 800 city and intercity buses in the 18 months after its inauguration. Based on the agreement, the engines and gearboxes would be manufactured in South Korea. Production would increasingly shift to Iran, where about 60 percent of the parts would be made.[51]

Since 2016 and the lifting of the international sanctions, nearly 40 foreign automakers, including Peugeot, Mercedes, and Toyota, are considering using Iran as a hub for their ME and regional exports.[52]

As of 2015, Iran has 3,200 gas stations for 1.5 million automobiles. Demand is supported by the fixing of fuel prices well below market levels. There are two pricing schemes for petrol, one subsidized the other not. Each month, qualified vehicle owners are allocated a specific number of subsidized liters of petrol (taxi's have a significantly higher allocation). The cost of regular unsubsidized petrol in Iran is IR7,000/liter (approximately 37 US cents/liter) and premium grade petrol IR3000/liter, whereas the subsidized equivalents go for IR4,000/liter and IR5,000/liter, respectively. The nation's abundant oil reserves have enabled the government to keep prices low (Iran is the second-largest exporter in OPEC). However, low prices have encouraged wasteful consumption and the smuggling of petrol into neighbouring countries such as Turkey, Pakistan and Afghanistan.[8] Some 1.8 billion liters of oil products worth 10 trillion rials ($1 billion) are smuggled out of Iran per annum.[55]

Given Iran's limited refining capacity, there has been a shortfall in petroleum products in recent years, requiring Iran to import an estimated 100,000 barrels per day (16,000 m³/d) in 2006/07. As a result, there is a recognition among many policymakers of the need to raise prices, and gradual increases have been implemented. However, these have tended to lag the prevailing rate of inflation, and given that raising petrol prices is politically difficult the provision of cheap fuel is likely to persist in the medium term, encouraging the purchase of vehicles. The government was nevertheless forced to take action in June 2007 when it announced both a petrol increase to 12 cents/litre and the imposition of fuel rationing, much to the chagrin of vehicle owners. The policy, which allocates 120 litres maximum per month (following revisions in December) to private car owners, will run until end-2008/09.[8]

Truck's transportation of new Renault Logan

Like other sectors, the automotive industry is suffering from a lack of foreign direct investment (FDI) and capital imports. The privatization process is moving slowly (2008). Some 80% of state-owned firms were due to be privatized over the ten years to 2014, further to an amendment to Article 44 of the Constitution in 2004. In May 2014, Tasnim News Agency quoted Abdollah Pouri Hosseini, the head of the Iran Privatization Organization, as saying that Iran would be privatizing 186 state-run companies in the new year (beginning 21 March 2014 in Iran). He said that 27 of these companies had a market value each in excess of US$400 million. In 2010, the government reduced its participation in Iran Khodko and Saipa to about 20% but the deals were annulled the same year by the Iranian Privatization Organization.[58]

International sanctions, high inflation, exacerbated by fuel price hikes, and dampened consumer demand have depressed growth in the passenger car segment, but industrial growth coupled with infrastructural development is spurring demand in the commercial vehicles segment.[39] The sanctions have also created difficulties for the imports of spare parts and increased the cost for car manufacturers. To make matters worse, the factory sale prices of cars, which are set by the government every year, have changed very little since 2006.[59] Experts also believe that the removal of subsidies is likely to have an adverse impact on the profitability of the automotive sector until 2013.[60]

The sanctions imposed in 2013 hit exports particularly hard, which had doubled to about 50,000 cars between 2011 and 2012. This prompted IKCO to announce plans in October 2013 to begin selling 10 000 cars a year to the Russian Federation. Traditional export markets include Syria, Iraq, Algeria, Egypt, Sudan, Venezuela, Pakistan, Cameroon, Ghana, Senegal and Azerbaijan.[28][29][58]

According to a 2015-survey, car production in Iran will increase by 28% increase following the conclusion of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.

In 2015, the government made loans up to $7120 available for purchase of domestic cars (with an interest rate of between 16-18%). The payback period is a maximum seven years or 84 installments.[61]

• International Rankings of Iran in Transportation
• Economy of Iran
• Transport in Iran
• Industry of Iran

 This article incorporates text from a free content work. Licensed under CC-BY-SA IGO 3.0. Text taken from UNESCO Science Report: towards 2030​, UNESCO.

Media related to Automotive industry in Iran at Wikimedia Commons

• Iranian automobile industry - Brief study (2008) - Market share and production level by manufacturers, type of vehicle (cars, 4WDs, buses or trucks)
• "Iranian automobile industry - Brief study (2003)". Archived from the original on 2008-06-17. Retrieved 2011-05-29.
• Iran Auto, 69-page report, 2008
• B.M.I: Iran Autos Report Q4 2011
• Cars produced in Iran on YouTube (pictures)
• Iran Automotive Industry Report Rev 2015