Azernews.Az

Iran's car production faced 49.49 percent decrease in the first quarter of current calendar year (which started March 21) compared to the same period of time previous year, ISNA News Agency reported.

The country produced 122,018 cars in the mentioned period, while the country's car output stood at 241,587 cars in the first quarter of previous year.

Meanwhile, Iran's car imports showed 2.3 per cent increase in the first three months of the current Iranian calendar year compared to the same time span previous year.

Iran imported 8,504 cars worth 189 million dollars in the mentioned period.

Iran also exported 1,126 cars worth 9 million dollars in the three-month time span, which is 92 per cent more than same period of time preceding year.

South Korea, Japan, and the United Arab Emirates were the main exporters of cars to Iran in the mentioned period.

Iran produced 989,110 cars in 2012, which made the country Asia's eighth largest car manufacturer.

Iran's automobile output faced 40 percent decrease in 2012. The country was Asia's 5th largest car manufacturer in 2011, with a total output of 1,648,505.

Increasing prices of raw materials and foreign currencies are the main problems that the car manufacturers are facing with.

The world's total car production stood at 84,141,209 cars in 2012, which is 5.3 per cent more than its preceding year.