Reporting "Asre Khodro", Light vehicle demand in Iran is expected to rise by almost 9% in 2016, taking the market to over 1.3 million units, while the heavy CV sector is expected to grow at almost 20%.

The report outlines the potential for the country’s new vehicle market to grow throughout the period to 2020, by which time both sectors will have exceeded their 2011 market peak.

Report author, Jonathan Storey commented that “this report is focused on vehicle demand, with Iran having the potential to become one of the world’s Top-10 auto markets by 2020.”

He also noted that “there is an interesting story to tell on the supply side, with the Iranian government having the understandable ambition to develop a modern industrial base. Such ambition needs to be tempered with realism about its ability to compete with global players, especially as its protective tariffs come under pressure. There are plenty of examples from around the world of countries working with the global OEMs to build a competitive automotive sector – Iran would do well to follow those examples rather than pursue a policy of supporting ‘national champions’.”

Source: automotiveworld.com