Asre Khodro - The Minister of Industries, Mining, and Trade, Mohammad Reza Nematzadeh, inaugurated an auto parts manufacturing line in Tabriz, East Azarbaijan Province on Tuesday.
Reporting "Asre Khodro", Auto parts needed for new Peugeots, namely the 208, 2008 Sports Utility Vehicle and 301 sedan will be produced at the new facility in the northwest and is known as Amirnia, ISNA reported.
Initially 500 billion rials ($13.2 million) was invested to launch the new production line. The plant will create 350 jobs.
The parts produced at the plant will be for the new Peugeot cars that will be produced under a joint venture between France's Peugeot and the local Iran Khodro Company – a JV commonly referred to as IKAP.
Amirnia was established in 1990 in Tabriz as a private manufacturer of auto spare parts.
Peugeot-Citroen announced its return to Iran on June 21, signing a €400-million joint venture with IKCO in Tehran.
Previously, it had been reported that the first cars produced under the new venture are set to hit Iranian roads last February, with an annual production target of 200,000 vehicles by 2018.
The 50-50 joint venture will manufacture three models reportedly using parts mostly made in Iran.
Production Figures
According to an IKCO press release, Iran Khodro Tabriz Co. recorded 167% year-on-year production boost as it rolled out 80,198 cars in the current fiscal that ends on March.
The Vice President of Iran Khodro Tabriz, Mokhtar Asghari, said his company manufactured 12,323 gasoline and CNG Arisun pick-ups, 66,172 Samands and 1,503 Sorens in the outgoing year.
According to Asghari, IKCO Tabriz has set a production target of more than 120,000 vehicles for the coming fiscal year.
Source: financialtribune.com