Iranian Tyre Industry Looks to Global Players - Nine national majors all aim for double digit expansion

摘要

Iran's vast oil-rich, semi-arid landmass stretches out across 1,648,000 square kilometres between the Gulf of Oman and the Persian Gulf in the south and the Caspian Sea in the north. Wedged between Iraq and Pakistan Iran is the 18th most populated country in the world with 67,503,205 inhabitants at the last count. Iran's economy is marked by a great reliance on the oil sector, including petrochemical and natural gas. Taking this into account, it makes sense to pay attention to the activities of industries affiliated with car manufacturing, The central government's control of industries in Iran has been substantially reduced since the government introduced a five-year expansion programme in 1991. Gradual elimination of governmental involvement called for the increase of multinational companies' interest in investment in the Iranian car industry, But these investments had a slow growth thanks to rejection of Iran's application for WTO membership. The Iranian car industry is 40 years old while, bizarrely, the country's tyre industry has been around for 50 years In recent years the car manufacturing industry has taken the lead in terms of technical know-how, and is growing faster than the tyre industry. Foreign investors have increased their activities in the Iranian car market, Examples include: Peugeot and Citroen (France), Mercedes Benz (Germany), Volvo (Sweden), Nissan Oapan), and Daewoo and Kia Motors (Korea).