After SAIPA and PSA Group signed a historic deal recently, it was confirmed that Citroen C4 will be the first product to be offered in Iran’s auto market.
The deal, which was unveiled on July 19, obliges the Paris-based carmaker to invest $330 million over the next five years for the development and production of several Citroen models for the domestic market.
Christophe Quemard, PSA’s Executive Vice President for Africa and Middle East, said PSA was planning on establishing a production site for C models before it was forced to pull out of Iran in 2011 under US pressure, the Persian daily Donya-e-Eqtesad reported.
“Picking up from where we left, PSA and SAIPA will start producing C4 in the upcoming months. The car will be available in Iran’s auto market by March 2017,” he said.
There are two types of Citroen C4 available in international markets, a hatchback produced and sold in the EU and a sedan exclusively produced and sold in China and Russia.
The PSA-SAIPA joint venture will also be producing the sedan, thus making Iran the third market for the model.
It has been estimated that the car will be priced at about 1 billion rials (approximately $30,000).
To first test Iran’s market, the sedan is likely to be imported over the next few months before the main production plan is initiated.
Reports indicate Citroen C-Elysee is another model to be manufactured under the JV while most online reviews ranked it as a low-quality vehicle.
The third title that shows up when you search Google for C-Elysee is a blog post that states, “The Citroen C-Elysee is the worst car I’ve ever driven.”
The company claims that the model is designed for “emerging markets” and hence, it has not been offered even in Citroen’s home market, namely France.
In response to the significant surge in the number of Chinese vehicles in Iran, many experts voiced their concerns about the low quality of these cars.
The Citroen models, which are going to be available in Iran, only carry the name of the French automaker while under the hood, they are Chinese and this will only add to the concerns.
With the fairly high price and low quality of the model, one must wait and see how Iran’s auto market will receive C4.
