TEHRAN – The year 2005 was a record sale in Iran’s auto industry history. Total of 994,000 light and heavy vehicles, valued at $11.6b, hit the nation’s roads while overall auto and part exports stood only at $350m, the Persian service of ISNA reported on Saturday.

Among known foreign auto manufacturers that received permits to import cars to the country, only BMW and Toyota were able to sell 3,000 and 5,000 passenger units respectively and additional 2,000 were brought in by individuals. IKCO (Iran Khodro Company) and SAIPA, two major domestic producers, kept the main share of the market, producing 553,000 and 413,000 correspondingly.

No statistics was released on the imported CKD (completely knocked down) parts or parts in general, yet the estimated figure calls for 5 billion dollars. Meanwhile, only 15,000 cars were exported abroad, of which, the Syrian market absorbed the most.

According to the Ministry of Industry and domestic auto builders, over one million cars are expected to be sold in 2006 while both Iranian giants project exportation of 100,000 for 2007.