Existing universal figures all point to this fact that today's automobile industry is considered the third largest after food and construction industries when considering the capital ratio and investment, not to mention it as the biggest industry from the technological point of view. From the very start, the auto industry created highest job opportunities and these all lead us to believe that nowadays auto-part industry, which at the beginning if not completely was in the hands of big auto makers is no exception to this rule.

By the middle of last century, developed countries were sole runners in the field of auto and auto-part manufacturing, and from the beginning, especially since the 1950's the industry experienced an all-out growth in both quality and quantity, making it one of the largest industries in the world. Following the Second World War, auto making fever also reached the lesser-developed or developing nations, including our country. Around half a century ago, the automotive industry in Iran was born, in 1957, when an assembly line was set up in Tehran to manufacture Jeep vehicles. During 1960's a large-scale movement began in Iran to assemble various types of cars, buses, and trucks. Companies setting up included Fiat, Iran National, Moratab Industrial Mfg, Iran Kaveh, Zamyad, Mazda, General Motors, American Motors and etc, many of which still operate with the same names, and some manufacturing the same brands over time.

For ten years between 1979 and 1989, the industry went into hibernation, and during this period diverse ideas came into the minds of decision-makers, all facing this challenge that whether auto manufacturing should be supported or scrapped. In other words the serious question was raised during this time that whether car production should be limited to a single model; be opened up to various models; or by stopping work on auto making, concentration be made on other sectors such as agriculture and other industrial fields, with vehicles being imported from abroad. Lack of an answer to this question forced respective officials to agree to resumption of Peykan production line, especially considering the large amount of investment already made by Iran National, and other factors such as domestic demand, then political developments, and finally issues surrounding supply of Peykan parts. Consequently Iran National survived under the new name of "Iran Khodro" and once again Peykan began to roll out of production line in large numbers.

Early in 1992 the Iranian parliament ratified the Five Year National Vehicle Act, and it became the basis for a calculated and determined move towards achieving a national auto industry policy. This event helped clarify the legal roadmap of the industry. A direct result was a Rls 1,100 billion investment, made between 1994 and 1998 on auto-part manufacturing other than the vehicle manufacturers themselves.

It should be noted that since 1982, over 2,300 licenses have been issued by the Iranian Ministry of Industry and Heavy Industries to create auto-part factories, and currently up to 400 factories with over 230,000 employees manufacture parts for the Iranian auto industry.

While in 1992 less than 40,000 vehicles were manufactured in Iran, this figure increased to 290,000 in the last nine months of 2001, which is expected to reach 360,000 by mid-March 2002. It shows a 25% increase comparing to the previous year. During the last seven years the average level of vehicle production growth in Iran was around 27%.

According to the Iranian Auto Part Manufacturers Association (IAPMA), they all were achieved by utilizing domestic investment without any government help, and over 85% of which were in private sector. National pride and audacity of the scholars and young men and women involved, with the help of contracts with the foreign auto makers, made them happened. The risk taken by the investors who utilized every possible resource, to not only boost indigenous auto industry development, but also to create many jobs, economic growth, achieve foreign currency savings, and improve management and technological capacity, brought success in both software and hardware.

Nevertheless, several influential steps were also taken by our auto industry, which include creating new companies with government support and infrastructural strategies to encourage young educated generation to change its working mind-set and to get involved to do big jobs at small workshops.

However, the productive measures and programmes were not long lasting, and only prolonged for the first five years; 1995-2000. The changes in management levels led to alteration in the perceived objectives and fundamental domestic-oriented policies. A powerful organisation which was the real supporter of the indigenous part manufacturers, and could provide an strong infrastructure for the auto-part industry in Iran, by continuing manufacturing contracts with financial, technical and information support, and improve the products in both quality and quantity to help Iranian companies to enter international markets with internationally acceptable and affordable products, was suddenly forced to move in a one-way path, instead of moving along a two-way path which could increase productivity and decrease foreign part imports with time, and an organisation that had gathered together a talented design engineering staff to become an internationally credible engineering entity, was reduced into a foreign part dealer house.

Luckily the infrastructural effects of the educational and financial supports, as well as upgrades made in the organisations, capabilities, and management systems helped Iranian auto-part manufacturers to cope with the current situation and to remain competitive in the international market. They know now how to enter this market, and how to manufacture parts with exportability in mind.

The other influential factor in development of the auto-part manufacturing industry, as we are witness to its quantitative and qualitative expansion, was the creation of the IAPMA. Therefore considering the importance and authority the association enjoys in the industry with significant export potentials, we made a short interview with its director, Dr. Mohammad Bagher Rejal, to help our readers have a better view of the auto-part manufacturing in Iran, and the partnership grounds on which Iranian manufacturers and British owners of technology and capital could join their efforts to co-operate, and to export their end-products to Britain.