Azerbaijan, Dec.8
By Fatih Karimov - Trend:
Cutting ties with French giant automaker, PSA Peugeot Citroen, due to the international sanctions has incurred at least €800 million loss to Iran, an official close to the matter told the Fars News Agency on the condition of anonymity.
According to the source, Peugeot's total production in 2011 amounted to 2.9 million cars, of which 21 percent was made in Iran, so that Iran was the second largest market for Peugeot after France.
"After 23 years of cooperation, Peugeot cut its ties with Iran and recalled 30 of its engineers from Iran within a week. Such a behavior was unprecedented in the world's car industry."
Meanwhile, in February Press TV reported that Peugeot has posted the largest annual revenue loss in its history, partly caused by the West's sanctions against Iran.
Iran was the French car maker's second-biggest market in 2011 in terms of trade volume.
In February 2012, PSA Peugeot Citroen stopped its trade with Iran after the enforcement of US-led financial sanctions against the Islamic Republic for its nuclear energy program.
The French car making group also halted its exports of vehicles to Iran, which accounted for around 13 percent of the firm's global deliveries in 2011.
It cost the automaker the annual sale of half a million cars and an estimated 1.5 billion euros in revenue last year.