TEHRAN: Iran imported 71,896 cars in the first nine months of the current Iranian calendar year (March 21-December 21, 2014), a 61 percent rise from 45,000 in the same period of time last year.
The country’s worth of car imports amounted to over $1.457 billion during the nine-month period, from $928 million in the same time in previous year, the ISNA news agency reported on Monday.
BMW 528 and BMW X4, with the customs prices of $69,561 and $69,456, respectively, were the most expensive cars imported to Iran during the ninth Iranian calendar month of Azar (November 22-December 21, 2014).
In last February, Iranian MP Ali Alilou said Iran is planning scrap all car import tariffs in the next two years.
Alilou, who is a member of the Majlis Industries and Mines Committee, said the measure is necessary to boost domestic production and make the auto industry competitive.
The automobile industry, the biggest non-oil sector of the Iranian economy, constituting around 10 percent of gross domestic product (GDP), boomed over the decade ending in 2011 due to government support and the dearth of international competitors in the domestic market.
