Baku, Azerbaijan, March 2
By Fatih Karimov - Trend:
Iran's second largest carmaker, SAIPA is negotiating with France's Renault to resume cooperation.
The parties will sign a cooperation agreement once the negotiations are concluded, ISNA news agency quoted Mehdi Jamali, SAIPA's CEO, as saying March 2.
Reportedly, one of the negotiation topics concerns making decision regarding which vehicles will be produced in collaboration with Renault in Iran.
Jamali further said the agreement will envisage the French carmaker's investment in Iran in line with the policies of the Iranian Ministry of Industries, Mining and Trade.
Last month, Renault expressed willingness to increase the current production of the Logan and Sandero models in Iran and launch the production lines of two new models, including Renault Kwid in the country.
It was announced that Renault's representatives would travel to Iran in the near future to sign an agreement to launch a joint venture with Pars Khodro, a main subsidiary of SAIPA, to boost the French company's markets in Iran.
Renault was a major player in Iran, with around 10 percent of the Iranian market before the international sanctions curtailed its activities in 2011.
After the sanctions were imposed on Iran, Renault's plants decreased their capacity to around 15 to 20 percent, but the French company hopes to triple or quadruple its output in the coming years, the Renault Middle East Managing Director Peyman Kargar told France 24 in August 2015.