Reporting "Asre Khodro", The figure includes 11.980 million passenger cars and 1.38 million commercial vehicles.

The number of vehicles in use in Iran was 12.679 million in 2013.

The motorization rate increased from 164 in 2013 to 170 vehicles per 1,000 inhabitants in 2014 in Iran, according to the report.

Iran stood at 78th place in the world in terms of motorization rate. The average global motorization rate was 180 vehicles per 1,000 inhabitants in 2014.

The report says that 1.236 billion cars were in use in the world in 2014. The figure stood at 1.188 billion in 2013.

Iran's car output reached 1.165 million units in 2016, according to the OICA. The figure indicated an 18.6-percent rise versus 2015, which is the highest output growth rate among car manufacturers in the world.

The Islamic Republic was the world's 18th biggest car manufacturer in 2016. Iran’s car industry is the second biggest sector in country after the energy sector, which makes more than 10 percent of GDP.

Over 700,000 people are working in this industry which is equal to 4 percent of workforce of Iran, according to the 2015 data.

Iranian car manufacturers reestablished cooperation with European companies, including Peugeot, Citroen and Renault. This resulted in a strong growth of nearly 151 percent for automotive sector, which ended 2016 as the top performing sector on the Tehran Stock Exchange.

Traditional export markets for Iranian automobiles include Algeria, Azerbaijan, Cameroon, Ghana, Egypt, Iraq, Pakistan, Senegal, Syria, Sudan and Venezuela.

Recently, the Islamic Republic presented certificates to foreign car manufacturers willing to open sales branches in the country.

Some 40 foreign carmakers have already obtained the certificates, while the number can be increased in future. Companies may get licenses facing no limit in terms of the number of cars they would like to import. However, the companies are required to have a 10-year customer services experience in Iran, to be able to sell the production in the market.

Under Iran's major economic development plan, the country has set a goal to boost car output to three million per year by 2025, reducing unnecessary car imports. Central geographic location of the country provides significant growth potential as an export hub.

Source: azernews.az