TEHRAN, July 13 (Xinhua) -- Iran's production of hybrid vehicles using compressed natural gas (CNG) has significantly declined, as these cleaner vehicles find few buyers, Financial Tribune daily reported on Thursday.
Domestic automakers produced 29,791 CNG hybrids and vans in the first quarter of current Iranian calendar year, started on March 21, 2017, a 25-percent decrease year on year.
The data also indicates that the production of the vehicles in the past Iranian year, March 2016-March 2017, experienced an average 6.3-percent decline yearly.
It seems that the governments' efforts to push ahead with plans to promote CNG as a clean alternative to other fuels have failed, said the report.
Iran introduced CNG-fueled cars to the domestic market a decade ago, as a "cleaner substitute" to gasoline-powered vehicles.
However, after 10 years, there are only 2,380 compressed CNG stations across the country, according to statistics released by the National Iranian Oil Products Distribution Company.
The vehicles, said the report, are not equipped with enough number of natural gas stations.
Meanwhile, their weaker power and shorter driving range than gasoline cars make buyers hesitate.
The Iranian authorities and experts have to force the auto sectors to meet global standards as well as other requirements to persuade people to use CNG hybrids, the report said.
