Page 36 - IRANRptApr20

9.1.2 ​Automotive sector news
Iranian auto component makers claim to have reached 80% self-sufficiency in providing supplies required by Iran’s automakers, according to Mehr News Agency.
Iran’s automotive industry has struggled in the past year to import parts including catalytic converters due to US sanctions, targeted explicitly at the sector since August 2018.
Secretary of the Iranian Auto Parts Makers Association Maziar Beyglou was quoted as saying that the country would soon reach 90% localisation in producing automotive parts, as producers were continuing to take up the slack from European companies who pulled out under threat of secondary sanctions from the US targeted at commercial parties still involved in trade or investment relationships with Iran.
Several foreign car models, including the Kia Pride, Peugeot 206 and 405 and the Pars GLX (a variant of the 1980s Peugeot 405 model) have mostly been produced with Iranian-made components for several years.
Other assembled models including the Peugeot 207i/+ have suffered from a lack of parts, with manufacturers like largest Iranian auto producer Iran Khodro (IKCO) urging buyers to purchase alternative vehicles.
Iranian car manufacturers have previously much relied on Chinese parts makers filling in local production gaps. However, some Chinese have also felt the pressure of the US sanctions threat. Some have pulled out of Iran, others have gone under the radar.
In October 2019, two​ ​Iranian technology and science startups​ signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to start production of reverse-engineered airbags initially worth IRR490bn ($4.3mn at the official exchange rate, $11.6mn at the free market rate during October.)
Groupe PSA units Peugeot, Citroen and DS Automobiles​, ​along with fellow French car producer Renault​, ​all invested in the Iranian market following the removal of international sanctions against Tehran under the 2015 nuclear deal—but after the US under Donald Trump returned to a sanctions policy against Iran in May 2018 they all withdrew from the country.
9.1.3 ​Aviation sector news
Iran sees collapse in domestic flights due to coronavirus pandemic
The number of domestic flights in Iran has fallen by around 75% in the past month to just 30 per day as a consequence of the country’s severe coronavirus outbreak, IRNA reported on March 11.
Reza Jafarzadeh, a spokesman for the Civil Aviation Organisation of Iran, said Iran normally saw an average of 350-400 internal flights a day and that numbers are likely to remain down during the long Nowruz Persian new year public holidays starting on March 19. Iran has introduced internal restrictions on travel in its bid to combat the coronavirus, now described as a pandemic by the World Health Organisation (WHO). The Nowruz period that extends into early April usually generates around 700-750 domestic flights daily, according to Jafarzadeh.
Airlines flying to popular Iranian winter sun destinations including the Hormozgan coast and Kish Island in the Persian Gulf have observed a significant decline in the number of people flying. The regions have now been closed to tourists.
International flights linking Iran to countries in the Persian Gulf region have more or less stopped altogether. However, Qatar Airways is reportedly still operating limited flights to Tehran IKA airport.
36​ IRAN Country Report April 2020 www.intellinews.com