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players on the roads. Representatives of 21 Iranian companies are set to showcase over 99 automobile parts and equipment at the MIMS Automobility Moscow 2022, which is due to be held on August 22-25.
According to Iranian automotive professional Amir-Abbas Farnoudi, since the Russian auto industry has been sanctioned by the West, this exhi- bition is “a great opportunity for Iranian auto part manufacturers to introduce their capacities and capabilities to the Russian market”, IRIB reported.
Farnoudi added that the main goal
of attending the exhibition is to form long-term co-operation with Russian car and auto part manufacturers, adding: “Companies were selected to participate in this exhibition that have the necessary technology for producing auto parts or to offer up-to-date technical engineering services so that they can operate directly in the Russian market.” According to Farnoudi, IKCO has also showcased one of the latest automobiles manufactured by the company called Tara in this exhi- bition in order to test the taste of Russian consumers.
“Iran Khodro's goal to re-enter the Russian market is completely strategic and planned,” he said.
“Russia is the fifth-largest car consump- tion market in the world and is one of the most attractive markets, with complexity and intense competition in the region. For this reason, for the last two years, studies, planning and negotiations
have been carried out for Iran Khodro to re-enter this market. And we are in the process of reaching good agreements, which will be announced as soon as the results are obtained,” Farnoudi added.
New models
Iran Khodro is placing its bets on the first Iranian-made crossover. Named the Rira, it is based on a Peugeot 2008, Asbe Bokhar reported on June 28. The car is reminiscent of Russia's own classic Lada Riva, made in Soviet times, that was a rip-off of the Fiat 124 born out of a joint venture between the Soviet Union and Fiat signed in 1966. A giant new factory was built at Togliatti, named in honour
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of the chairman of the Italian Commu- nist Party at the time, Palmiro Togliatti. This is the same factory that was taken over by Renault which was sold back to the Russian state for one ruble in April.
The development of Iran’s Rira model has been stymied by US sanctions imposed on the Islamic Republic over Tehran’s nuclear programme. The US placed specific automotive sanctions on the country
in 2018 as part of former US president Donald Trump’s so-called maximum pres- sure campaign. Iran Khodro partner PSA Group pulled out of Iran under sanctions pressure, following its merger with other companies including US automakers to create automotive giant Stellantis.
The Rira is equipped with an EF7 Plus turbocharged engine, or TC7 Plus. The 1.7-litre 16-valve turbocharged four- cylinder engine is capable of producing 160 horsepower at 5,000 rpm and 240 Nm of torque at 1,600 to 4,500 rpm.
Iran Khodro’s head of development and manufacturing Kianoush Pourmojib said the company would start mass production of the Rira before September 2023.
Like Iran Khodro, AvtoVaz’s production is also based on Renault’s technology, making the tie up between the two countries even more appealing, and the co-operation is not all one-way. AvtoVaz is now offering Renault engine parts to Iran Khodro’s biggest rival, SAIPA. Iran’s second-largest car producer SAIPA Corp. has agreed to purchase Lada engine blocks from Russia’s largest carmaker AvtoVaz to restart production of a Renault model, Mag Auto reported on August 16.
As part of the announced deal, the SAIPA- produced Renault Logan, a rebadged car known as the L90 Tondar, will be made with a Lada Largus engine. The Lada Largus is also essentially rebadged, sold as a version of the Renault-developed first-generation Dacia Logan MCV.
Renault officially departed Iran follow- ing the re-imposition of sanctions on the country by the US Trump administration in 2018. The company no longer featured in the supply chain from the follow- ing year. SAIPA is considering several options for the engine of its locally made
Logan. These are 1.6-litre engines with capacities of 90 and 106 horsepower, while there is also a 122-horsepower, 1.8-litre engine version.
Chinese-Iranian JVs could come
to Russia
The Iranian deals are part of a larger push by Russia to revive its auto indus- try with help from its friends. Iran’s long history of Chinese automotive manufacturing joint ventures is also of interest to the Russians, who have also turned to the increasingly sophisticated Chinese automotive producers for help.
China has already set up two car plants in Russia, and Chinese car manufacturer Chery is in talks with Russian manufacturers about producing more cars in Russian plants, Tass reported last week. Chery already sold 40,874 cars in Russian in 2021, according to Association of European Business, but says that now it needs to localise production of parts in Russia if output is to expand.
Russia has also approached Chinese companies for help re-launching the historic “Moskvitch” brand at the AvtoVaz factory in Togliatti that was supposed to be based on technology supplied by Russia’s famous truck- maker Kamaz. However, the US has also sanctioned Kamaz and according to bne IntelliNews industry sources, no progress has been made on the widely reported project. No CEO has been appointed and a chief designer has also yet to be hired.
China, despite having generally unheard- of brands to many western buyers,
has more than 200 car manufacturers producing every type of car imaginable and its share of the Russian market is bound to expand rapidly as it steps into the shoes of the departed foreign brands.
In recent years, Chinese car producers have also set up in Iran, like the case of Chery, which created a $370mn plant
in Babol in northern Iran. It remains
to be seen if the Chinese will use their Iranian base of operations to export cars to Russia, but co-operation between the three countries is now on a set upward trajectory at the expense of foreign luxury marques missing out on the Russian market.