Iran’s monthly car output rises 59.8%

TEHRAN,July 6(MNA) - Iran manufactured 85,391 cars in the third Iranian calendar month of Khordad (May 22-June 21), a 59.8 percent jump compared to the same month last year. Car manufacturing in Iran dropped 20.2 percent in the past Iranian calendar year, which ended on March 20. Iran manufactured 737,060 cars in the last Iranian year, while the figure was 924,051 in its preceding year. French carmakers Peugeot and Renault look to be among the clearest beneficiaries of the interim deal that lifts some sanctions on Iran, with both hoping to leap back into the Middle East's biggest auto market, AFP reported in November. PSA Peugeot Citroen was the top car manufacturer in Iran before the sanctions, selling 458,000 vehicles in 2011 in what used to be its second-biggest market worldwide after France. Its cars, most of them assembled by an Iranian partner firm and rebranded, are ubiquitous on Tehran roads. Renault sold 103,000 vehicles there last year before leaving. Iran itself counts car manufacturing as its second-biggest industry after oil, accounting for 10 percent of its gross domestic product. Iran and the 5+1 group (the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany) signed an interim agreement over Tehran’s nuclear program in Geneva on November 24, 2013, according to which Iran agreed not to expand its nuclear program and to suspend its 20 percent uranium enrichment in return for a limited easing of the sanctions imposed on the country.