Tehran, Iran, May 12
By Mehdi Sepahvand - Trend:
Iranian car manufacturer Saipa Diesel is in talks with the German Mercedes-Benz for cooperation.
Intensive talks are being held with Mercedes-Benz to improve the products of Saipa Diesel, which we hope will be finalized by the end of the current Iranian fiscal year (March 20, 2016), Saipa Diesel CEO Za'far Tanhapour said.
He made the remarks at a ceremony of unveiling Volvo FH500 trucks with officials from the Iranian Ministry of Industry, Mine, and Trade.
He went on to comment on the company's production, stating that in the past Iranian fiscal year (which ended March 20), the company's production and sales jumped by 400 percent compared to the preceding year.
He said that the company produces 42 percent of the diesel trailer trucks, 26 percent of light vehicles, and 8 percent of the carrier trucks used in Iran, which make 27 percent of the commercial vehicles in Iran, the country's official IRNA news agency reported May 12.
He said the company has planned to sell worth over ten trillion rials (about $350 million) of products in the current Iranian fiscal year.
Tanhapour added that there are 137,000 worn-out commercial vehicles aged over 27.
Plans have been made to replace 67,000 of these old cars with new ones, he said.
Nissan and PSA Peugeot Citroen are ready to launch car production lines in Iran, said Saeed Madani, the managing director of Iranian carmaker Saipa (the branch of Saipa that produces sedans, vans, and other light cars), on May 12.
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.
Edited by CN
Mehdi Sepahvand is Trend Agency's journalist in Iran, follow him on Twitter: @mehdisepahvand