top two brands(Iran Khodro and Saipa) are both Iranians. They produce both their indigenous designed models(Samand, Soren, Rana, Dena, Tiba, ...) and European/Korean license produced cars like Peugeot 206, ...
Have you noticed that turkey is in Middle East all of a sudden!!
quality of Iranian made cars were perfect and very competetive back in 70s but as Iran suddenly lost all its foreign support the quality got down and down... up until couple of years ago that again Iranian companies are thinking about better cars...
The quality of German and Japanese cars and lately Korean cars are very good comparing to Iranian ones but it is couple of years now that I personally started to like Iranian made cars... I first fell in love with Samand LX(EF7) when I was behind its wheels in a 1000 km route from Tehran to Mashhad... It was at the middle of the night so I had the chance to test it very hard!! I have to admit I fell in love with that car... its handling... sound proofing... comfort and speed was something I say more than worthy for a $8000 car...
Also couple of months back I had the chance to test a IKCO Dena... wow... that was at least 2 times better than LX... It was classy...better quality of material... better design inside and outside... better sound proofing... very nice navigation... and precise cruise control... I was so satisfied with this DENA one that I wanted to immediately buy one but found it almost impossible as its release was limited by then....
For sure I would definitely
prefer a BMW m5 or at least a korean SUV but let,s be honest....
Samand LX (EF7)= $ 9100 with an economy of 7.8 combined and 6 litters in highway, Aluminum cast rings, etc
Iran Khodro - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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IKCO Samand LX (EF7)= $ 9100
IKCO Rana = $10000
IKCO Soren ELX = $11500
IKCO Dena = $ 14000 with much better overall...
IKCO Dena - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
an M5 BMW = $787000
a KIA Cerato 2015 = $40000
a Toyota Yaris= $33000
so I would definitely admit that Iranian cars like Dena or Samand LX are best cars in the world for this price...
Such growth in demand is normal under sanctions and high import taxes (if the news are correct to begin with). Consumers' money get blown in the wind however for low quality cars. The Egyption local cars industry emerged with so much of the socialist governments' propaganda in the 1950s-1960s, before almost disappearing entirely after the economic openness in the 1970s. Most middle eastern manufacturing is still in its early stages of development. There are locally manufactured appliances in KSA, but I wouldn't really want to waste my money on them given the "below average" quality. A locally manufactured AC is about "one-fourth" the quality of the Korean and Japanese ones and naturally far less durable.
No country will become advanced and its own people do not have the desire to buy their own low quality stuff...