TEHRAN - Iran has produced more than 1.13 million passenger cars this calendar year ending March 19, showing a six percent growth compared to the figure for the previous year, an industry official has said.

Mehrdad Khosravi, director of the Automotive Industries Office of the Ministry of Industry, Mining, and Trade, told IRNA on Saturday that the production of pickup trucks have also seen a 32 percent increase this year at 166,000 vehicles.

Over 40,000 commercial vehicles, including different kinds of vans, minibuses, buses, trucks, and trailers, have also been manufactured this year, which is about two percent more than last year's output in this sector, he added.

Khosravi pointed out that the private sector's share in the automotive industry was 23 percent of the total production with around 307,000 vehicles.

The production of motorcycles has also been on an upward trajectory this year at over 600,000 motorcycles, the official said. That is an increase of about 28 percent compared to last year's output.

Iranian automakers produced about 1.230 million vehicles in the first 11 months of the current Iranian calendar year (March 21, 2023-February 20, 2024).

According to Khosravi, Iranian carmakers managed to manufacture about 1,040,000 passenger cars in the mentioned 11 months.

In the mentioned period, 152,000 trucks were also produced, registering a 34 percent growth compared to the same period last year.

Manufacturing of heavy vehicles also increased by 10 percent in the said 11 months to reach 34,000, Khosravi said.

According to the official, private carmakers accounted for 23 percent of the country’s total automobile production in the first 11 months of the current year by producing 280,000 cars.

Manufacturing of vehicles by the private sector increased by 61 percent in the mentioned period as compared to the previous year’s same 11 months.

Car manufacturing in Iran increased by 39 percent in the past Iranian calendar year 1401 as the Iranian carmakers manufactured 1,347,394 vehicles in the mentioned year.

In the past year, 1,182,078 passenger cars were manufactured in the country, registering a 35-percent rise year on year.

Vans accounted for the lion’s share of the production in the past year, as 125,507 vans were manufactured, with a 56-percent growth.

In the past year, 34,136 trucks were manufactured, with a 150 percent rise.

The manufacturing of buses stood at 1,391, and minibuses, and middle buses at 1,118, registering a growth of 88 percent and 11 percent, respectively.

Also, about 450,000 motorcycles were manufactured in the previous year, with a 61.2 percent rise year on year.

EF/