TEHRAN - Deputy Industry, Mining, and Trade Minister Mehdi Sadeqi Niaraki has said the country’s car output is expected to increase by 50 percent in the next Iranian calendar year (starts on March 21, 2022), IRNA reported.

“Private carmakers are trying to increase their output,” Sadeqi Niaraki said.

Noting that the annual demand for automobiles is about 1.5 million in the country, the official noted: “Production of one million vehicles is forecast for the current year, and we expect a growth of about 50 percent for the next year, and automakers are also proposing all kinds of facilities and sale options.”

Back in August, Iranian Minister of Industry, Mining and Trade, Reza Fatemi Amin had announced a plan to produce three million vehicles a year by the Iranian calendar year of 1404 (begins in March 2025), saying that this output is in line with the capabilities of the country’s automakers.

Fatemi Amin said that his ministry has a two-year plan for the auto industry based on which this industry will undergo serious changes and improve significantly.

“We must strengthen competition, improve management and economic mechanisms, and increase production in the auto industry in order to succeed in our plans,” Fatemi Amin said.

"Our plan is to produce 1.6 million vehicles next year (begins in March 2022), which will increase to three million units in [the Iranian calendar year] 1404 (begins in March 2025), and 30 percent of the production, equivalent to about one million units, should be sent to export markets," he added.

Manufacturing of passenger cars in Iran rose 1.4 percent during the first seven months of the current Iranian calendar year (March 21-October 22), compared to the same period of time in the past year.

Iran currently stands in 20th place among the world’s top automobile manufacturers producing 821,060 vehicles by the end of 2019, according to the Organisation Internationale des Constructeurs d'Automobiles (OICA).

EF/