As the second most active market in the country after oil and gas, Iran’s automotive industry accounts for 10 % of the county’s GDP. Since the year 2000, it is an exponentially growing market that made Iran become the 18^th largest car manufacturer in the world and one of the largest players in Asia.

More emphasis has also been laid on foreign car imports within the past few years, including a more diverse variety from middle-class to super-sports cars, with BMW being on the forefront in sales. The Bavarian Car manufacturer and innovator actually found one of its greatest markets with Iranian customers. Maserati also started sales in Iran a few years back, increasing its overall output on the Iranian market. With more and more Persians buying foreign cars and an exponential overall increase in home-grown car sales, Iran is setting new targets for this segment for the next decade. Without further ado, here are 4 ways Iran is developing its automotive industry.

1.Exponential Rise in Domestic Manufacturing

Iran’s tremendous output increase in car manufacturing started around 17 years ago where it reached a certain breaking point. Since then, production has been increased massively with each year. More home-made models are being designed and produced and the customer targeting a home-made brand has a lot more variety of choice. Especially people who cannot afford or do not want to purchase cars from other countries can save a lot of money if they go for domestic cars. Hence, there is a better coverage for people who want to spend less on vehicles.

2.International Imports Increased

As mentioned, international brands are constantly increasing in both quantity and quality on the Iranian market, as many –especially European – manufacturers realized the great potential Iran’s customer demand holds for their products. BMW has always been a favorite and it recently increased its exports to Iran as well as available models. Mercedes Benz is also a Major player within the segment. Volkswagen starts doing sales this August, making some of its models available on the Iranian market. Other countries include Japanese manufacturer Mitsubishi and Korean manufacturer Hyundai, who are doing sizeable sales of SUV’s in Iran. Luxury manufacturer Maserati from Italy also started opening stores since a few years by now, with sizeable sales of its sports-cars with the rather wealthy districts of Tehran as a target.

3.New Digital Solutions for a Growing Market

In the wake of the mentioned increases, a higher demand revealed itself for effective sales platforms online and offline, agency-based marketing aprpoaches, along with better security accessories that address theft and damages. One innovative platform, Sisarv’s client Lucapro (short for Luxury Cars Promotion), not only sells and resells both firsthand and secondhand cars, but also develops ideas to further innovate the car market and the demand of the various types of Iranian car customers. As more and better cars are showing up, security devices are also finding a higher demand which again boosts their development. Marketing in Iran in general is increasingly being conducted through digital marketing and content marketing, in order to meet the expectations of a young and highly tech-savvy nation.

4.Social Media Marketing

Social Media, Instagram in particular, has proven to be an effective tool for businesses around the globe and so it is in Iran. New brands such as Lucapro, Iranian and international manufacturers use it as a platform for advertisements in the region in order to increase customer awareness and sales. A fair amount of sales is conducted directly over Instagram, especially in metropolitan areas such as Tehran, where cellphone internet has much better coverage and because there is a lot more hassle concerning physical presence at sales locations due to the city’s heavy traffic. For car inspection, the car often gets delivered to the buyer’s workplace or home before a final decision is made. Brands such as Lucapro also offer a prior-to-purchase cleaning and repair service. These services can also be used any time after the purchase. Though they do not have an English website yet, Lucapro has shown to be a highly useful brand for customers in both selling and reselling cars and their maintenance. Lucapro also plans to expand its business in future through body-shops and further social media as well as online presence.

The sheer amount of advancements in one of Iran’s strongest segments makes it impossible to include all the goodies within a single blog post, but it might have given a little glimpse into the automotive industry and manufacturing in Iran. For further questions or possible collaboration within this segment, drop us a message at

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