Azerbaijan, Baku, Sep.29/ Trend F.Karimov/
Iranian carmakers produced around 1.6 million cars in the Iranian calendar year 1389 (March 2010-March 2011), but the output will hardly hit 600,000 this year which ends in March 2014, the head of Public Relations Department of Iranian Industry Ministry Manouchehr Tahaei said, IRIB reported.
Iran Khodro and Saipa, the two Iranian main carmakers, have about 80 trillion rial (about $3.2 billion) and 60 trillion rial (about $2.4 billion) of debt respectively, he added.
The domestic car producers face a difficult situation, he said, adding that some of the carmakers have experienced 100 per cent of decrease in their outputs.
On June 3, the U.S. Treasury Department announced a new round of sanctions against anyone involved in Iran's automobile industry and anyone caught using Iran's currency, the rial, for "significant transactions."
Iran produced some 989,110 cars in 2012, which made the country Asia's eighth largest car producer.
China, Japan, South Korea, India, Thailand, Turkey, and Indonesia were Asia's seven largest car producers.
Iran's automobile output faced 40 per cent of decrease in 2012. The country was Asia's 5th largest car producer in 2011, with a total output of around 1,648,505.
Increasing prices of raw materials and foreign currencies are the main problems for the car producers.
The world's total car production stood at 84,141,209 cars in 2012, which is by 5.3 per cent more than in the previous year.
The two Iranian carmakers will boost their outputs in the coming months despite the international sanctions imposed on the country's automobile industry, the Deputy Industry Minister Mohsen Salehinia said.