The Iranian ministry of industry, mine, and trade has called domestic carmakers not to use Chinese platforms for assembling cars, ISNA reported. Iranian industry minister Mohammadreza Nematzadeh has called domestic carmakers to invite their European, Korean, and Japanese partners to return to the Iranian market. After being hit by international sanctions, Iranian carmakers have voiced interest in using Chinese car platforms. On June 3, the U.S. Treasury Department announced a new round of sanctions against anyone involved in Iran's auto industry and anyone caught using Iran's currency, the rial, for "significant transactions." Iran produced 989,110 cars in 2012, which made the country Asia's eighth largest car manufacturer. Iran also stood at the world's 18th place, the ISNA News Agency reported. China, Japan, South Korea, India, Thailand, Turkey, and Indonesia were Asia's seven largest car manufacturers.
Iran's automobile output faced 40 per cent decrease in 2012. The country was Asia's 5th largest car manufacturer in 2011, with a total output of 1,648,505. Increasing prices of raw materials and foreign currencies are the main problems that the car manufacturers face. The world's total car production stood at 84,141,209 cars in 2012, which is 5.3 per cent more than last year.
The two Iranian carmakers will boost their outputs in the coming months despite the international sanctions imposed on the country's auto industry, the deputy industry minister Mohsen Salehinia said.