Azernews.Az

By Sara Rajabova

Iranian joint venture Renault Pars has officially launched the Renault Sandero assembly line.

The car is being produced by the Iranian carmaker and will feature both manual and automatic transmission models, Iran’s IRIB reported on September 22.

“Despite all the problems as a result of the sanctions, we managed to design and manufacture Sandero in two years,” said Mehdi Jamali, managing director of Iranian carmaker Saipa.

He noted by the end of the year (March 20, 2016), 10,000 Sandero will be manufactured.

Sandero’s consumes 7.6 liters and 5.3 liters of gas per 100 kilometers, respectively. It meets euro-4 standards.

Renault Pars is an Iranian joint venture established in 2004 and owned by Renault and Industrial Development and Renovation Organization of Iran. The company is in charge of managing the assembly of completely knocked down Renault cars by local manufacturers Iran Khodro, Saipa and Pars Khodro.

The race has tightened for foreign automakers to access Iran’s auto market. European manufacturers, which were forced to leave the Iranian market under international sanctions, are now striving to regain a share in Iran’s vast car market.

Representatives from the French automobile industry were also attempting to restore their previous share of the Iranian auto market.

French Peugeot wants to establish a 50-50 joint venture with Iran to produce cars. Iranian officials said the French auto giant Peugeot is already in advanced stages of talks to provide parts to the leading Iranian carmaker, Iran Khodro.

Renault had to suspend doing business with Iran in 2013 after stricter sanctions were imposed that specifically included tough restrictions on banking transactions within the country. The French major reported a huge fall in profits for the first half of 2013 after writing off the entire value of its business in Iran. The firm suffered a loss of 512 million euros (680-million-dollars) after ceasing activity in the Islamic Republic.

The automobile industry accounts for nearly 10 percent of Iran’s gross domestic product. The latest data shows that Iran ranks 18th on the list of the world’s top auto manufacturers. However, the country’s automotive industry requires modernization after years of sanctions.

Sanctions on Iran hit the automotive industry hard, slicing production by 1 million units from its peak of 1.6 million in 2011 and leading to 100,000 job redundancies.

Iran is one of the biggest producers of cars in the region.

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Sara Rajabova is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @SaraRajabova

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