Strategies and Factors Affecting China’s Auto Industry Investment in Iran After Lifting the Sanctions

Abstract

In recent years, the presence of Chinese vehicles in the streets of Iran has become more remarkable. Although, the Chinese automotive products are more elegant than Iranian ones, their quality is still criticized by Iranian consumers. However, due to the absence of major automobile manufacturers in past, the Chinese have used the opportunity of Iran’s sanctions and have taken the Iranian market. After lifting the economic sanctions on Iran, the government first attempted to negotiate with European automobile manufacturers to invest and import products to Iran. This is a difficult situation for Chinese automotive manufacturing companies which considered Iran as one of the largest automobile markets. Now, the questions are: what will be the situation of Chinese automotive manufacturing companies in Iran after lifting the sanctions? What factors will guarantee the continued presence of Chinese automobile manufacturers in post-sanctions era, compare to other competitors? Due to the presence of Chinese automobile manufacturers in Iran before lifting the sanctions, now with the lifting of sanctions and return to a normal situation, what changes are needed for Chinese automobile manufacturers? What do Iranians expect in the new situation after the lifting of sanctions? The authors by a descriptive-analytical method try to explain the situation of Chinese Automobile manufacturers companies in Iran and believe that now the Chinese must improve the quality of their goods.