Baku, Azerbaijan, Jan. 29
By Farhad Daneshvar – Trend:
The Industrial Development and Renovation Organization of Iran has launched talks with French carmaker Renault on joint production and investment, Iran's Minister of Industry, Mine and Trade Mohammad Reza Nematzadeh said.
Nematzadeh added that neither Iran Khodro nor SAIPA will sign an agreement with the French carmaker, the Fars News Agency reported.
The minister noted that Negin Khodro, which is Renault’s representative in Iran, will be involved in the possible contract.
Renault earlier announced that its 2016 sales in Iran boomed by 110.7 percent to give the French carmaker an 8.4 percent market share.
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Due to the removal of sanctions following the implementation of the nuclear deal, Iranian car manufacturers reestablished cooperation with European companies, including Peugeot, Citroen and Renault. This resulted in a strong growth of nearly 151 percent for automotive sector, which ended 2016 as the top performing sector on the Tehran Stock Exchange.
Iranian carmakers manufactured more than 946,000 vehicles over the first nine months of the current fiscal year (starting March 20, 2016), indicating a 38.7 percent growth year-on-year.
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