TEHRAN - Secretary of Iran’s Association of Motorbike Industry Bahman Zia’ Moghaddam has said that the country has reported a major increase in its motorbike production in the nine months to late December as local manufacturers seek to ramp up exports to neighboring countries where cheap Chinese products dominate the markets.
Zia’ Moghaddam said added that total motorcycle production in the country had reached more than 300,000 units over March-December last year, up 80% from the same period in 2021.
He said that annual output of motorcycles in Iran is expected to increase by more than a half year on year to reach over 400,000 units in the calendar year to late March.
Zia’ Moghaddam said Iranian manufacturers of motorbikes are still struggling with relatively low levels of exports especially to neighboring countries where affordable Chinese brands have a strong presence in the markets.
He also blamed restrictions on banking transactions because of foreign sanctions on Iran as a major hurdle to expand exports of motorbikes from the country.
However, Zia’ Moghaddam said that Iranian motorcycle manufacturers have sought to boost local sourcing of parts and components in recent years, adding that more than 60% of the parts needed to produce certain Iranian motorcycle models are manufactured inside the country.
He said that three Iranian motorcycle manufacturers had launched engine production platforms in recent months to further deepen their local production capacities.
Iran has 44 motorcycle manufacturing companies with 16,000 permanent jobs and another 80,000 working in the industry’s wider supply chain.