UANI

"Wealthy Iranians are fueling an unprecedented luxury car boom despite sanctions hurting their economy, paying up to $360,000 for high-end autos, according to showroom employees and reports Sunday. 'Buyers are paying upfront for these cars, which generally cost two to three times more than abroad,' one car salesman in Tehran told AFP on condition of anonymity. A newspaper citing official customs data, Hafte-Sobh, reported that 'some 563 different Porsche models were sold in the last Iranian year (to March 2012),' worth a total $50 million before a hefty 100-percent import tax... Maserati, the growling musclebrand owned by Italy's Fiat, is also looking to get a slice of the action by opening its own Tehran showroom within weeks, reports say. The ostentatious splurge by Iran's elite starkly contrasts with the straits experienced by ordinary Iranians." (Agence France-Press, "Wealthy Iranians spur lucury car boom despite sanctions," 4/23/12)

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"Italian luxury sports car maker Maserati plans to open a dealership in Tehran, Iran, next year, as it expands its international network, not only to enhance its independence as a brand within Fiat SpA (F.MI) but also to tap demand from a new, wealthy elite in emerging markets. Maserati won't own the dealership, preferring to import cars to a representative, a spokeswoman for the brand said Friday, confirming a report in Il Sole 24 Ore, an Italian business daily." (Dow Jones Newswire. "Fiat's Maserati Brand To Open Dealership In Tehran," 9/2/11)

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"Fiat Group Autos S.p.A. began production of its Siena four-door sedan in Iran in 2004, under a licensing agreement with Pars Industrial Development Foundation, and to date some 2000 vehicles have been produced, said company spokesman Richard Gadeselli." From 2000-2009, the company has been the recipient of $227.3 million of US federal funds.  Their activity in Iran is currently active.  (The New York Times, "Profiting from Iran, and the US," 3/6/10)

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"Another example is Fiat's subsidiary Iveco. The truck maker has since the early 1990s delivered thousands of vehicles to Iran and boasts on its Web site about its joint-venture assembly line in Iran. The problem is that some of these trucks, as shown on the nearby photograph, can also be used to transport Iranian missiles. Iranian Opposition members say these trucks also serve another sinister purpose: the public hangings of homosexuals and dissidents. I have seen a photograph showing these executions on Iveco trucks at an October 2007 exhibition in Rome organized by Italy's largest organization against the death penalty, 'Nessuno tocchi Caino.'

Maurizio Pignata, director of Iveco's press office, assured me Wednesday that their 'vehicles, like the ones in the photograph with missiles in Tehran, are always sold for civilian purposes.' He added however that the company 'can't know the ulterior exploit of our vehicles. The photograph of the truck with Iranian rockets shows normal Iveco vehicles converted for different goals. In China they used our vehicles for public executions of prisoners. So we can't know if our trucks are used in Iran for military or repressive purposes.'" (The Wall Street Journal, "The Rome-Tehran Axis," 1/14/10)

Iveco trucks sold for "civilian purposes." (Courtesy of Getty)

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"Italy is Iran's largest trading partner in Europe, mainly because of investments by energy giant ENI. This month, Fiat Group Autos SpA said it would begin manufacturing its Siena four-door sedan in Iran later this year more than 3 1/2 years after signing an agreement with the Iranian car manufacturing company PIDF." (Associated Press, "Iran remains key trade partner for Europe," 7/28/08)

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"China's biggest domestic automaker, Chery, is opening a factory in Iran, expanding its fast-growing foreign ties soon after announcing ventures with Chrysler and Fiat." (Orlando Sentinel, "Upscale Range Rover is U.S.-bound," 8/18/07)

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Listed by U.S. Government as doing business in Iran. (U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, List of Companies Doing Business With State Sponsors Of Terror, Removed from the internet in July of 2007)