SAIPA has unveiled a new engine called ME16 that will be used in three cars and P90, which is the Iranian version of Renault Sandero.
According to SAIPA’s CEO Mohammad Ali Teymouri, the main bottleneck of SAIPA Automotive Group was the engine and with the inauguration of the ME16 production line, 600 engines will be produced every day, Donyaye Khodro reported.
“This production line is the most modern engine manufacturing line in Iran and more than 60% of the production processes are handled automatically and by robots, which reduces errors in each station,” he said.
“About 92% of the ME16 engine employ domestic technology and partts, and fewer than 8% of components used in this engine are imported, which include materials for engine packaging.”
Three cars, namely Shahin G (with manual transmission), Shahin with automatic transmission and P90 will be outfitted with this engine.
The SAIPA chief noted that after six years of studies by the engineers of SAIPA’s Research Center and Pars Khodro, the Iranian Sandero has reached the production stage and will use the ME16 engine.
“The domestic version of this car will have a higher quality than the original European version assembled in Iran. This is because Iranian component manufacturing chains, which were active during the presence of the French automaker and were producing components for this model, have updated and improved the components used in this car,” he added.
According to Teymouri, the engine used in the European version of this car was Euro-4 K4, which has a lower power compared with the ME16 engine.
The Iranian Sandero with the ME16 engine will enter the production line in the 10th month of the current fiscal year (Dec. 22, 2023-Jan. 20, 2024) and it is estimated to be 50% cheaper than the current European model.
Khashayar Mashhadi, manager of the ME16 Engine Project, said the new engine is being produced with the Renault engine production line.
“We are running the L90 engine production line based on a contract with Renault. The L90 line is fully automatic and error-free. After the engine was designed by our engineers and the production line was modified, we can produce 610 engines per day,” he said.
“In addition to the production of this engine, we also have a five-speed manual gearbox production line, which is considered the best five-speed gearbox in the country. The combination of the new engine and this gearbox has optimized fuel consumption.”
Referring to the new engine’s fuel consumption, Mashhadi said current tests indicate that the initial fuel consumption of the ME16 engine in the Shahin model is 7 liters per 100 kilometers, but we have to wait for the final calibration.
Annual Vehicle Output Tops 1.3m
The production of domestic vehicles (including heavy, commercial and passenger cars) reached 1.348 million in the fiscal 2022-23 (ended March 21), registering a 40% growth compared with the previous year, according to the Ministry of Industries, Mining and Trade’s Automotive Industry Office.
“The highest growth in car production in the last 12 years was recorded in the fiscal 2014-15 and fiscal 2022-23. The only difference in car output in those years is that the assembly of completely knocked down products was undertaken by Iran’s two largest car manufacturers in the fiscal 2014-15,” Abdollah Tavakkoli Lahijani was also quoted as saying by IRNA.
Noting that 105,000 unfinished cars were completed in the previous fiscal year, he added that the production of complete cars by the two largest carmakers stood at 961,000 vehicles during the period, registering a 479% growth compared with the previous year.
“In the past year, 95% of the vehicles were produced as completed products, while only 20% of completed cars were produced in the fiscal 2021-22 and a majority of cars had a deficit of parts,” he said.
“The highest monthly output since the beginning of the international sanctions in the fiscal 2018-19 belonged to the 11th month of the previous fiscal [Jan. 21-Feb. 19] with 133,000 vehicles.”
The official stated that 1.1 million vehicles were delivered by the two manufacturers in the previous fiscal year, registering a 31% growth compared with last year when delivery stood at 838,000 vehicles.
Tavakkoli announced that 195,000 cars were produced by the private sector, registering a 103% growth compared with the previous fiscal year.
“The share of the private sector in car production amounted to 15% in the fiscal 2022-23, which indicates a threefold increase,” he said.
Passenger car output hit 1.07 million during the period under review, registering a 13% rise compared with the previous year.
The output of pickup trucks reached 125,000 vehicles, registering a 56% year-on-year growth compared with last year.
Van production amounted to 3,000 vehicles during the period, up 267% year-on-year.
Minibus and bus production stood at 2,500 vehicles, showing a rise of 44% compared with the previous fiscal.
The production of heavy vehicles hit 34,000 vehicles during the period to register a 150% YOY growth while that of motorcycles grew by 61% YOY to stand at 450,000 vehicles in the year under review.
