Baku, Azerbaijan, May 12
By Fatih Karimov - Trend: Nissan and PSA Peugeot Citroen are ready to launch car production lines in Iran, said Saeed Madani, the managing director of Iranian carmaker Saipa.
"Nissan has announced its readiness and we are also ready to cooperate with the company. We are negotiating with them," Iran's Fars news agency quoted Madani as saying May 12.
Regarding cooperation with Citroen, a number of Citroen products will be imported in the first phase to see the market's feedback, he said, adding that the importation of B73 car is being negotiated.
He also said that Saipa is currently receiving spare parts and technology from Volvo, and is seeking to establish joint ventures with it in the future.
The preliminary deal on Iran's nuclear program will fire the starting pistol on a stampede of western business interests into a potentially vast untapped market.
As the nuclear negotiations are in their latter stages, the expectation of an eventual agreement and the lifting of sanctions have brought an ever-increasing influx of the world's corporations to Tehran to make contacts and voice their interest.
Peugeot brand chief Maxime Picat said on May 11 that the company is in talks to cooperate with Iranian carmaker Iran Khodro if sanctions against the Islamic Republic are lifted.
"We are speaking to our Iranian partners on a weekly basis about how and when we can start our activities," Picat added.
He said he hoped an agreement between Iran and world powers on the country's nuclear program could be reached in June and sanctions would then be lifted.
Edited by CN