The factory prices of Iran Khodro Company’s (IKCO) vehicles will not increase in the Iranian New Year starting March 21, according to the company’s CEO.
“As per the budget bill of 1402 [fiscal 2023-24], all cars must be sold in the commodity exchange. We do not plan to increase the factory prices of our products, but we are looking forward to increase supply in the Iran Mercantile Exchange,” Mehdi Khatibi was also quoted as saying by IRNA.
“We’ll continue to offer cars on IME and believe that in the absence of an optimal solution, offering cars on the commodity exchange is the best option,” he added.
He said command pricing is one of the most important problems plaguing the domestic automobile industry.
Stressing that the domestic automaker is expanding its cooperation with Chinese car manufacturers, the IKCO chief said a team from this industrial group went to China and a contract was signed between Iran Khodro Diesel and the Chinese side in the presence of IKD’s CEO.
“We are also hosting the CEO of Haima Automobile Company on March 8 and will follow up measures and cooperation with it based on our agreement,” he added.
Referring to the withdrawal of European car manufacturers over sanctions in the past, Khatibi said Iran Khodro considers such issues and problems in its policies and foreign partnerships.
“By 2030, new developments will take place in the world's automobile industry, and the Chinese will gain a major share of the world's markets. Based on this, our cooperation with the Chinese will be a worthy action and we would be included in the global chain of major car manufacturers,” he said.
He noted that Iran Khodro has no objection to importing cars, but whether Iran Khodro itself will import or not will depend on the decision of its Board of Directors.
“However, we are against the import of used cars and we don't know why politicians favor this move,” he said.
Commenting on the deadline of the Institute of Standards and Industrial Research of Iran regarding the application of 85 standards by July 22, Khatibi said, “We intend to maintain the production of popular cars and products with body changes, technical changes, etc. However, the production of Peugeot 206 car will be stopped temporarily until the standards are applied to it.”
IKCO Engine Output Sets Record
Iran Khodro Company has produced the highest number of vehicle engines (also known as EF7 engines) and set a “historic record”.
IKCO succeeded in producing the largest number of national engines, which previously belonged to the fiscal 2017-18, by producing 116,909 engines in the fiscal 2022-23, the news portal of the company, IKCO Press, reported on Feb. 15.
The company also registered a 79% growth in the production of turbo engines (manual and automatic) compared with the corresponding period of last year.
The production of national engines started in the fiscal 2005-06 with a capacity of 491 engines per year.
The company announced that the timely supply of parts was the main reason behind the rise in the output of EF7 engines.
Mehdi Rajabali, the CEO of Iran Khodro Powertrain Company, told Donyaye Khodro that the company has registered 25% growth in terms of development and 35% growth in terms of revenue from the beginning of the current fiscal year (March 21, 2022) to Feb. 15.
“This year, the production of XUP engine increased and therefore, the XU7 engine was retired. The EF7P engine also reached mass production, which will be a very good development for IKCO products,” he added.
Commenting on customer complaints about IKCO’s engines, Rajabali said engines were recalibrated according to the needs of customers and new software versions have been produced, which have improved customer satisfaction.
According to Shahin Sadri, IKCO’s deputy for parts production, the company’s output of press parts for engines reached 12.87 million on Feb. 5, which is higher than the figure for the fiscal 2021-22.
“With the production of 457,124 engines, the company managed to break its own production record in the fiscal 2021-22,” he added.
Earlier, IKCO had announced that the company succeeded in breaking its daily production record for passenger and commercial vehicle engines.
It produced 3,658 commercial and passenger engines on Jan. 22 to break its previous record.
According to Kianoush Pourmojib, IKCO’s deputy director for development and production, IKCO exceeded the production record of heavy and semi-heavy engine production for Iran Khodro Diesel with 7,027 engines.
"Currently, the daily production of Iranian Diesel Engine Manufacturing Company averages 48 diesel engines, which show better growth and condition than last year,” he added.
