TEHRAN - Iran’s minister of industries Reza Fatemi Amin says the government has no plan to renew a ban on car imports into the country in May as he insists that domestic output will not be enough to respond to a growing demand for cars in the country in the calendar year to March 2023.
Speaking to the Iranian state TV on Monday, Fatemi Amin expected that demand for car imports into Iran will exceed an annual average of 100,000 units next calendar year.
The minister said that increased domestic output and resumption of imports will help meet an annual demand for cars in Iran that is expected to be around 1.5 million units.
Iran imposed an outright ban on imports of finished cars in 2018 to prevent a drop in its hard currency resources at a time its crude revenues had come under strain because of American sanctions.
That comes as Iran has mostly relied on a home-grown industry to meet domestic demand for cars in recent decades.
Output by two large automotive companies and a handful of smaller manufacturers is expected to reach a total of 1 million units in the calendar year to late March.
Fatemi Amin said domestic car output will increase by 50% over the next calendar year as he insisted that local companies will introduce new models to diversify their sales.
He said Iran’s largest carmaker IKCO will discontinue the production of its flagship Samand model in line with new government directives that are meant to trigger reform in the domestic car manufacturing sector.