The spokesman for Iran’s Auto Policy-Making Council, a regulatory body under the Ministry of Industries, Mines and Trade, told reporters on Monday that companies from Austria, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and Turkey will be present in Iran’s auto market, Fars News Agency reported.
The official added that companies from Japan and Italy might have a more pronounced role in the future market.
European carmakers are in a race for fresh inroads into the country of 80 million people, which is being promoted as the region’s biggest automotive market.
In November, officials said an Iranian car manufacturer was in talks with Italian automaker Fiat SpA to produce cars in Iran, which is billed as the Middle East’s biggest auto market.
Also, in August Iran Khodro, the country’s largest automaker, said the Iranian giant and Daimler subsidiary Mercedes-Benz would sign a deal ‘soon’ to produce luxury cars and commercial vehicles.
The automaker is one of Iran Khodro’s oldest trade partners, producing luxury cars, vans and buses.
Another German company, Volkswagen, has also been in talks with Iran Khodro for the production of cars and investment in Iran, as well as the transfer of technology.
Many Iranians are wary that some European countries might be coveting the country’s market merely as an export outlet rather than making investment.
Auto industry is the second largest source of foreign currency and foreign technology for Iran after oil.
