Iranian auto industry is the 16th largest in the world, producing one million buses, lorries and cars a year.
Not bad for an industry that started in 1957 by assembling Jeeps, and is still subject to US sanctions because of its links with Iran's government and military, even though all motor industries have such links, the Independent reported.
According to professor Tom Donnelly, the director of the Motor Industry Observatory at the Coventry University Business School, "Iran is a major player in the Middle East and it does have ambitions to play with the big boys of the motor industry, with a target to raise production to 1.6 million vehicles a year by next year."
A target, if achieved, would make it the same size as Britain's.
The ambitions of Iran's car industry now seem to match the ambitions of the Iranian government to increase its bearing on the region and the world.
Iran has a population of 65 million: 50 million is the minimum level estimated by analysts to sustain an indigenous industry. The nation also has a low car ownership ratio of one in 10 and a highly educated workforce.
Joint ventures with Peugeot, Citro'n, Renault and VW have provided the Iranians with the technology vital for their aims. "Renault has even prioritized production in Iran over China as it was a late player in China, and with the absence of the Americans, due to the sanctions, the Iranian market is uncluttered," Professor Donnelly says. "But how much technology would you transfer to the Iranians if you were a European producer, knowing their ambition?" Then again, the Peugeot 405 isn't exactly cutting-edge technology.
Dave Leggett, the editor of the motor industry news and analysis website, has recently returned from a trip to Iran. He believes that 'the Iranians are in it for the long hall with their big ambitions for the Soren, even if the Tondar 90 may be their best bet owing to its price, quality and technology'.
Unlike the UK, the Iranian government has decided to have an indigenous car manufacturing industry, rather than a car manufacturing industry in Iran.
"So when I went round the Iranian factories their R&D was impressive designing and engineering prototypes despite the sanctions," Leggett says, noting, "In fact the sanctions have encouraged them to be self sufficient."
