SAIPA has signed a deal to export 45,000 cars worth €450 million to Russia, the head of the Trade Promotion Organization of Iran (TPO) said.
Speaking during a ceremony for signing the agreement between SAIPA and a Russian company called BM, Alireza Peymanpak added that the contract marks a serious step for forging extensive cooperation between Iran and Russia in the automotive field, Fars News Agency reported.
“With the presence of Iranian automobile and component companies at the Moscow International Automobility Exhibition, memorandums of understanding worth €700 million were signed and some of these memorandums, after a follow-up, led to the conclusion of contracts between Iranian and Russian automobile and component companies,” he said.
The TPO official noted that it is a good opportunity to increase Iran's share in the $20 billion market of Russia’s car industry.
“This contract is a preliminary step for cooperation between the two countries in the field of automobiles so that SAIPA can produce joint products with major Russian automobile manufacturers,” he said.
Mohammad Ali Teymouri, CEO of SAIPA Automotive Group, said the agreement with BM company pertains to the export of three passenger vehicles, Shahin, QUIK and Saina, as well as Nissan commercial vehicles with refrigerators and fire trucks.
“SAIPA intends to increase its domestic and foreign market share by increasing the quality of its products by 300%, which is a big step in Iran's automotive industry,” he said.
“Our partners in Russia are two major car manufacturers. These two companies have stopped their production lines due to sanctions and SAIPA is ready to send its techno-engineering team to Russia to update their production lines and make it possible to produce cars again and supply them to the market.”
Referring to other export markets, Teymouri noted that SAIPA initially focused on the Venezuelan market in the field of export and delivered the first shipment of 1,000 cars.
“The next delivery of 2,000 vehicles to Venezuela is at the stage of currency transfer,” he said.
Alexander Stepanov, the CEO of BM company, stated that in the first stage, 20,000 passenger and commercial vehicles will be imported into Russia.
SAIPA Reports Production Data
The domestic carmaker SAIPA says it has broken last year’s production record by producing 398,111 units from March 21, 2022, to Jan. 24.
Masoud Parvin, the automotive group's deputy for production planning, said in the same period of the year before, the company produced 397,080 cars.
“Three production sites broke the production record of the previous year at irregular intervals. Bonro site with 23,600 cars on Oct. 24, 2022, SAIPA Diesel with 1,105 vehicles on Nov. 19, 2022, and Pars Khodro with 103,159 vehicles on Dec. 29, 2022, were able to break their production records,” the website Donyayeh Khodro reported.
The website specializes in automotive news, developments and analysis.
Parvin noted that the company broke the production record of the Shahin passenger car, a relatively newcomer in the local car market with 20,869 units.
At a ceremony to sign a contract to export SAIPA vehicles to Russia and Belarus, Teymouri said SAIPA’s annual production capacity is 900,000 vehicles, but actual production will reach 600,000 units this year from exclusive platforms.
Local media outlets often report the inefficiency and mismanagement in major domestic car companies that are said to be deep in the red despite selling their substandard products at skyrocketing prices.
“SAIPA's SP100 platform can produce in the B and C class with 80% shared parts. The Shahin model is produced on this platform and two more cars will be fabricated from the same platform this year,” he said.
“There is also a platform for Saina and QUIK models. We will produce two new models, namely Atlas and Sahand, on this platform next year.”
SAIPA’s CEO noted that with the support of the Ministry of Industries, Mining and Trade, SAIPA is designing a new economy car weighing less than 800 kg, the electronic parts of which are supplied as modules and the design is compatible with international standards.
“Due to its lighter weight compared to other models, it is the best candidate for EVs. The fuel consumption of this car will be less than 5 liters and we hope to send it to the market by the end of the year [March 20, 2023],” he said.
“The QUIK and Saina models have been well received overseas. We exported 1,000 vehicles to Venezuela and sent a big consignment to Iraq.”
According to the contract signed between SAIPA and the Belarusian company LCC, SAIPA will export 45,000 vehicles to Belarus and Russia in the next three years (10,000 units in the first year, 15,000 in the second and 20,000 in the third). The companies are reportedly planning a joint venture in the eastern European country.
