Iran oil minister criticizes monopoly in car industry

TEHRAN,July 20(MNA) – Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh criticized the domestic car industry’s monopoly, blaming it for non-development of research activities. It is for sure monopolized industries will never invest in research and development plans, the Icana news agency quoted Zanganeh as saying on Wednesday. “Some certain industries, like the car industry, are not showing any interest in development and innovation.” So, the key to break the monopoly is the close cooperation of industries and universities, he added. In March, the chairman of the Competition Council of Iran said both car buyers and car manufacturers are unhappy with the current situation, a situation in which buyers are complaining about high prices and auto companies are saying they are suffering losses. “If the monopolies are broken and the market becomes competitive, the auto manufacturers will surely be forced, by raising the quality of their cars, to compete with others, and thereby the price will be determined by the market,” Shiva suggested. According to statistics, car manufacturing in Iran grew by 80 percent in spring 2014 compared to spring 2013. Iran manufactured 223,023 cars in spring 2014, which corresponds to the first quarter of the current Iranian calendar year (March 21-June 21). 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.