Tehran, Iran, May 13
By Mehdi Sepahvand - Trend:
SAIPA, a major Iranian car manufacturer, will start producing five models of Citroen if the talks between the two companies finalize into some agreement, according to the SAIPA CEO Fariborz Shahbaz.
Shahbaz said Citroen's Elysée and SC35 are among those models, ILNA news agency reported May 13.
SAIPA produced 94,000 cars the last Iranian fiscal year, which ended March 19, 2016.
Shahbaz also said his company is aiming an output of 150,000 in the current Iranian year.
Commenting on the Citroen SC35 production in Iran, he said SAIPA's share of the parts used in the production will be 21 percent the first year of production, and it will then improve to 40 percent the second year.
Mansour Moazami, managing director at the Industrial Development and Renovation Organization of Iran (IDRO), said earlier that the Citroen cars will be manufactured in SAIPA's plant in the city of Kashan in central Iran through a 50/50 venture and the French company will provide the needed financial resources.
Certain share of the joint products will be exported to third markets, making it possible to take a share in the regional car market, said Moazami.