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9.2.2 Automotive corporate news
Iran Khodro (IKCO), the biggest Iranian car producer, has announced that it is set to end general production of the Peugeot 405 sedan model that it has been making for more than 30 years, ILNA reported.
IKCO produces cars including a rebadged Peugeot 405-based Pars, an Irish-designed Samand model and the Peugeot 206 and 207i, along with the Runna, based off the same platform. The company also makes the Dena and Dena+. These cars, based on the 405 platform, emerged in 2015.
Kianoush Pourmojib, IKCO vice president for research and development, said that by June 2020 the company would end production of the dated Peugeot 405 for new buyers. However, he added that orders already placed for 405s would still be met. Also, IKCO plans to produce a limited amount of the Peugeot model for drivers of Iran’s yellow taxis. Such cabbies continue to demand the 405 due to its low cost, according to Pourmojib.
The car currently retails for Iranian rial (IRR) 631.6mn (€4,980 at the free market rate). The retail price of the vehicle is some 20.63% higher than the factory price due to demand, local price website IranJib says.
Vehicles on the market such as the Samand, Pars and Runna would compensate for the disappearance of the car, Pourmojib added.
He did not mention the recently showcased Peugeot 301 model which IKCO officials lately touted as entirely locally made, with no parts sourced from France’s PSA Group since its official departure from Iran in the face of US sanctions directed at Tehran and any companies across swathes of industry that continue doing business with Iran. Initially, the 301 was destined to become an everyman vehicle of choice, but production remained stunted after the US declared what Iran calls its “economic war”.
IKCO has expanded its regional reach in recent years with joint venture deals with companies in countries including Iraq, Syria and Azerbaijan.
9.2.3 Aviation corporate news
Armenia Airways is set to resume regular flights from Yerevan to Tehran on January 14, according to a statement posted by the carrier on its Facebook page.
Multiple airlines have halted or postponed Tehran flights, with some avoiding Iranian aerospace altogether, since Iranian missile gunners mistakenly shot down Ukraine International Airlines (UIA) flight PS752, causing the loss of 176 lives, on January 8. The incident came with Iran’s armed forces on high alert for a response from the US after Iranian ballistic missile strikes were aimed at two bases in Iraq used by US soldiers in retaliation for the January 3 drone missile assassination of top Iranian general Qasem Soleimani that was ordered by US President Donald Trump. Iran says PS752 was mistaken for an incoming cruise missile amid a communications breakdown between military units.
Following a call by the Civil Aviation Committee of Armenia (CACA) to airlines in which it said they should take into account guidance from the European aviation security group and temporarily bypass Iranian and Iraqi airspace, Armenia Airways approached the Armenian and Iranian governments and received confirmation that the skies were now regarded as safe.
Earlier, Armenia Airways cancelled the Yerevan-Tehran-Yerevan round-trip flights, scheduled for January 12, for security reasons.
Meanwhile, the Russian Foreign Ministry has recommended that Aeroflot now fly to Tehran and from Tehran to Russia only during daylight hours, Russian
53 IRAN Country Report March 2020 www.intellinews.com
