TEHRAN – Iran plans to manufacture at least three million cars by 2025 and export some one million sets, the Fars News Agency quoted Industry, Mine and Trade Minister Mehdi Ghazanfari as saying.
He made the remarks on the sidelines of a ceremony to unveil the second all-Iranian car, named Runna, in Tehran today.
“Some 1.6 million cars were manufactured in the past calendar year and 55,000 cars were exported,” Ghazanfari said.
Iranian car manufacturers produced 1.648 million cars in 2011, making the country number 13 in the world in terms of production, the Fars News Agency quoted a report by the International Organization of Motor Vehicle Manufacturers as saying.
China, the U.S. and Japan are the top three car manufacturers, producing 18.4 million, 8.6 million and 8.4 million car units, respectively, according to the report.
Total world production reached 80.1 million units in 2011, a new record and one that is up 3 percent on 2010’s output, according to the report.
After a dramatic fall in 2009 to 61.8 million units due to the 2008 crisis, world auto production has recovered its growth rate. In 2011 Asia produced the largest number cars in the world (40.6 million units), followed by Europe (21.1) and the Americas at (17.8), said the report.
The organization forecasts for 2012 a continuation of 3 percent growth in world auto production.
Iran has developed its domestic car industry for five decades and produced over 1.6 million vehicles last year, about half of them made by Iran Khodro, which aims to export around 10 percent of its production this year, Reuters reported.
Even with sanctions, which have scared off some suppliers from exporting to Iran, Iran Khodro says sales rose 18 percent in 2010 and plans a 13 percent output increase this year to 860,000 vehicles.
