Iran ramps up car imports to ease soaring prices
Iran has ramped up imports of cars this year amid efforts to ease soaring prices in the domestic market.
Figures released by the Iranian customs office (IRICA) on Monday showed that a total of 9,592 imported cars worth just over $192 million had been cleared in the country’s customs in the four months to July 21.
That comes as Iran had imported only 439 cars worth $12 million in the four months to late July 2023.
The figures come just days after the Iranian government said it had eased restrictions on imports of second-hand cars as part of efforts to mitigate a shortage that has pushed up the prices in the domestic market.
Authorities have said that people will be able to import almost all brands of foreign cars from neighboring countries with paying a duty of around 150% which is much lower than a normal car import tariff of nearly 600%.
Increased car imports into Iran come nearly four years after the country introduced heavy restrictions on hard currency spending for unnecessary imports.
The policy was aimed at helping domestic manufacturing and coping with the financial impacts of US sanctions that had restricted Iran’s oil sales.
Experts say Iran has to import hundreds of thousands of cars each year to respond to a domestic demand which is estimated to be around 2 million units.
Domestic manufacturing of cars reached 1.335 million units in the year to March 2024 and is expected to hit a target of 1.7 million in the current calendar year, according to figures released by the country’s industry ministry earlier this month.
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