is the largest car manufacturer in the Middle-East. It has established joint-ventures with foreign partners on 4 continents. The
IKCO Samand, Iran's first national car, was sold in many countries. , model year 2019. In 2008,
IDRO reported that SAIPA accounts for 54%, and Iran Khodro for 46% of the output. Although carmakers are listed on the
stock exchange, the government still owns about 40% of both companies. In July 2010, the government sold a further 18% stake in both Iran Khodro and SAIPA for about $2 billion in total, bringing down its participation in both companies to about 20%. In August, both deals were cancelled by the Iranian Privatization Organization. No clear reason was given for the cancellation of the deals, but analysts believe that discontent over the prices at which the blocks were traded is most likely to be the reason. Unofficial estimates put the sector’s debt to
Iranian banks as high as 100 trillion rials ($4 billion). The other car manufacturers, such as
Azhitechs,
Bahman Group, Rakhsh Khodro, Kerman Motors,
Kish Khodro, Raniran, Traktorsazi, Shahab Khodro, and others together produced only 6%. These automakers produce a wide range of automobiles including motorbikes, passenger cars, vans, mini trucks, medium-sized trucks, heavy duty trucks, minibuses, large size buses and other heavy automobiles used in commercial and private activities in the country.
Iran Khodro Diesel has a dominant market share (+70%) in bus, truck and van production. Having a fleet of 7 million passenger cars, buses and trucks, Iran ranked the world’s 16th biggest automaker and one of the largest in Asia in 2006, with annual production above 1 million units and 1.3 million in 2009, resulting in almost 1.5 percent of total world production of vehicles and 1 car per 10 people. 60% of passenger cars produced in 2008 use
natural gas as fuel or are
dual-fuel, and the remaining 40% will run on regular gasoline (2008). Some problems faced by the industry are slow deliveries of cars, lack of after sales services and low quality in the production of some cars. Car production in Iran has increased 445% between 1998 and 2008. Because of
sanctions on spare parts by
France's
Peugeot and
Renault, car production in Iran dropped by as much as 40% in 2012 before recovering somewhat in 2014 following the
Geneva interim agreement. More than half of the vehicles in Iran are over 10 years old (2009). The government has sought to upgrade the local fleet and the authorities aim to pull some 200,000 outmoded vehicles off the road each year, underpinning demand. Auto manufacturing industry's share in gross national product is two percent and Iran's auto production rate in the global markets is 1.7 percent (2008). Previously buyers had been purchasing vehicles outright in cash, but now over half of all new car sales are through finance companies or on lease purchase schemes.
Motorcycles There were more than 8 million motorcycles in Iran by 2010, with 1,500 motorcycles getting registered each day. Motorcycles account for 30% of
air pollution in Tehran. Domestically manufactured motorcycles conform to
Euro 2 emission standards, yet catalyst transducers are not being used. On the other hand, the rest of the world has considered the
Euro 5 emission standards for motorcycles. Iran car exports reached $1 billion by March 2009. Overall production is expected to rise to 1.13 million units by 2012 ($200 million in exports expected by 2010) and 60,000 units exported by 2013. ==Auto parts==