Page 57 - IRANRptJul20

SAIPA ‘set to launch delayed sedan’ and return to Tehran Stock Exchange
Pouyan Ahmadizadeh, Bana Sharif’s CEO, reportedly said that the company’s electric bike prototype was ready for the move into the commercial stage and that all but one of the licences permitting it to take a place in the market had been obtained.
“Obtaining a plate licence is one of the final steps. If approved, the last problems in the way of commercialising the product will be resolved,” said Ahmadizadeh.
The vehicle has a range of around 65 kilometres while each charge would cost the equivalent of around €0.06, under the current standard Iranian tariff. Electric bikes and cars in Iran have struggled to make an impact due to a lack of incentives provided by the government to move away from cheap petrol-based transport.
IKCO and SAIPA, the two main automakers in Iran, have previously announced electric drivetrains for planned vehicles, but to date no specific models have been announced.
SAIPA, which recently overtook Iran Khodro (IKCO) to become Iran’s largest carmaker by production volume, has started a test run of its new mid-sized sedan, the Shahin (or “Shahin Falcon”), ​Asbe Bokhar​ magazine has reported.
The automaker, meanwhile, has also announced that it is set to re-list on the Tehran Stock Exchange (TSE),​ which has seen ​immense gains​ in recent weeks. SAIPA said on its website on May 3 that it had begun a process of recapitalising and that once it met requirements “it would reopen the SAIPA symbol” on the stock market.
The Shahin sedan (which previously went by the name “Roham”) was initially showcased in 2018. It is the latest model to be developed by the company (full name, Société Anonyme Iranienne de Production des Automobiles), which was again working with France’s Citroen on the assembly and development of automobiles until the reimposition of heavy sanctions on Iran by the US in 2018 caused that arrangement to end.
Asbe Bokhar​ quoted a source at SAIPA as saying that “15 units [of the new sedan] will roll off the production line this week as part of an initial run” before a ramping up of production in coming weeks.
The Shahin is the first vehicle from the company to be built on a new mega-platform called the SP100, set to be the basis of several sedans, hatchbacks and crossover models.
Backed by the SP100 platform, SAIPA is now considering pursuing a greater presence in the Eurasian markets of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), as the car meets Euro5 emissions standards and possibly EuroNCAP crash test standards.
9.2.3​ Aviation corporate news
IranAir to start Tehran-Manchester flights from July
IranAir, the national airline of the Islamic Republic, is set to commence flights to Manchester, England, from July 4, the company has announced.
The once-weekly Tehran-Manchester-Tehran service will be operated with one of the company’s few new Airbus A330s which IranAir received prior to the US introduced sanctions that stopped further deliveries.
An example return journey ticket was priced at Iranian rial (IRR) 129.1mn (€577 at the free market rate) on the IranAir booking website.
IranAir flies three weekly flights to London Heathrow, thus Manchester is its second destination in England.
57​ IRAN Country Report July 2020 www.intellinews.com