Well, that was short lived. Following the nuclear deal struck by world power, Iran had international-economic sanctions lifted, allowing for the import of foreign vehicles into its borders.
Now, Iran has said “no” to Chevrolet and General Motors. According to Reuters, a shipment of 200 Chevrolets, worth $7 million, was cancelled as the vehicles were loaded up in South Korea. A source inside the Iranian ministry quoted an unnamed official stating, “Even the Americans are not interested in buying such cars because of their weight and high fuel consumption. Why should we import the cars from a bankrupt American factory? This is very odd.”
Still, it seems Opels are safe as an import, for whatever reason that may be.
Obviously, there’s some spin going on there, but the official was also reportedly busy talking up domestic products over foreign vehicles, denouncing imports. We weren’t aware Iran made many cars. The official also criticized young people for purchasing cars, which are seen by some as a luxurious commodity.
Chevrolet has been removed from the official importation list of Iran, which also includes BMW, Porsche and Hyundai.
Comments
Put Vauxhall badges on them, confuse them to death.
Put OnStar in them and give them to their government officials. A drone should find them.
It is sad that most of the Iranian people are not bad people it is their government and radical religious leaders that are the bad players. They hold many of their own people hostage and murder many of their own people.
GM needs to just keep out of that country unless there are some changes in leadership there. GM does not need that money that bad.
“We weren’t aware Iran made many cars.”
The aggressive US sanctions against Iran have obviously barred also you seeing the Iranian automobile industry.
But of course, Iran has an automobile industry with several companies being active in that sector. One of the best know is Khodro. Another one used to build cars based on a licence from Peugeot. Peugeot has suffered a lot from France joining in with the USA in the aggressive sanctions against Iran.
I have here the 2005 OICA statistic of automobile production per country, showing for Iran 788.658 cars produced in 2004 and 817.200 in 2005.
OICA is the international association of automobile manufacturers (French: “Organisation Internationale de Constructeurs d’Automobiles”).
Yes, they have an auto industry, and it’s nothing to boast about.
I used to live there for many years. Pretty much all their domestic manufactured, and in some cases, even the assembled ones, are quite dreadful.
Knowing that they cannot compete with foreign brands directly, they’ve put hefty import taxes in place. 40% for up to 2000cc engined cars, 55% for 2000cc to 2500cc, and 80% for higher displacements, IF allowed.
Also, they seem to have a knack for keeping obsolete models in production for decades and milking consumers. Would you like to buy a rebadged Ford Festiva for $6000, or a Peugeot 206 for $9500?
im iranian
im sorry for this news
iranian love american car
We made many american car before Revolution
many iranian hate peugeot and german car
our auto industry has failed
Foreign cars are so Expensive
at last
did you know…..best selling car in iran is ford festiva? it’s still alive. we Christen that saipa 131, 111, 132 and ….
The world is generally aware that life is very different there before and after 1979…
The majority of young Iranians love Western and American culture but the oppressive government and the radical religion leaders prevent the young from showing their real feelings.
I saw a show a while ago where a young woman got the show host away from guides [Guards] and told him that they really love America and to tell people here that they have no ill feeling and it is all the leaders that are the issue.
She had risked much to say this.
Well, Opel may be approved for import there simply because their officials may not be aware, for instance,
that Opel is GMish.
You know, official leaders are generally no car experts in many countries, that’s for sure.
Ha! There on to the Korean Intelligence Agency’s continual monitoring all vehicles that are shipped from their shore.
TiGrl1982, Opel isn’t GMish, it’s GM. Owned since the 1920’s. The Buick Regal is basically an Opel