Iran has been making cars for more than half a century, becoming the top producer in the Middle East. The distinctive Paykan, first produced in 1967, remains an enduring source of national pride. The Paykan, a replica of the British-made Hillman Hunter, dominated Iran's auto sales for years, even after the 1979 revolution, when the Iran National car company was nationalized. Just two years ago, Iran was producing 1.65 million cars a year, with exports to Syria, Iraq and Venezuela.Socialist poop-piles, every one.
| Except for Iraq, surely... |
The falloff reflects the crumbling of a key state-run Iranian industry, one that planners had hoped might one day help diversify an economy that remains highly dependent on energy. As government employees, autoworkers enjoy job protection, but their factories now lie increasingly idle.
"We see that many workers in the factories are just sitting around or playing chess," said the secretary of the Iran Vehicle Manufacturing Association.
I see they took a lesson from the UAW.
Manufacturers had begun to hope that, by the end of this decade, cars might finally outrank Persian rugs and pistachios as Iran's top non-oil export.
The blow has been particularly staggering in terms of exports, which had doubled between 2011 and 2012 to reach some 50,000 cars, almost all of them to Iraq, Syria and Venezuela, which rank among the country's few close allies.
On Saturday, Iran Khodro announced plans to begin selling cars to Russia at a rate of 10,000 per year. Although the statement offered no details on when the shipments would start, it was the first piece of good news for Iranian car exporters in an otherwise dismal year.