IranDaily: The imports of 2019 model cars and above, compliant with current European standards, have been authorized for all Iranians, as announced by the government spokesperson.
On the sidelines of a cabinet meeting on Wednesday, Ali Bahadori Jahromi stated that the move represents a major effort aimed at tackling monopoly in the domestic automotive industry, ISNA reported. The decree allows real entities both inside and outside the county to import vehicles, he said. This bill has been approved by Parliament, Jahromi said.
In last July, the Guardian Council, the Iranian government body responsible for signing parliament bills into law, approved a Parliament law that allows unlimited imports of brand-new and second-hand cars into the country amid efforts by the government to contain rampant prices of the domestically-produced cars. Iran’s top legislative body, at the time, endorsed a legislation ratified in June, 2023, which allowed the government to lift restrictions on imports of cars into Iran. The legislation is based on a bill submitted by the Iranian government to Parliament in last April, which asked for removal of bans on car imports to help contain car prices in the country and to respond to soaring demand for cars.
Iran has relied on increased domestic manufacturing of cars instead of imports to meet a growing demand in the country amid sanctions that have caused a change in import priorities. According to Iran’s Industry Minister Abbas Aliabadi, car output in the country will reach 1.7 million units in the current calendar year which ends on March 20, 2025. Aliabadi said on last Monday that Iranian automotive companies had produced a total of 1.335 million cars in the calendar year to March 2024. He said the steady rise in domestic car manufacturing has allowed Iran to move up to 16th from 18th in two years in the global ranking of countries based on the number of cars produced annually.