Iran Khodro (IKCO) Sees Prospects in Oman Market

Following the recent Iran Trade Expo in the Omani capital, Iran Khodro Company (IKCO) has reported on how their booth at the Iran-only exhibition was received by the people of the Arab nation. 

The exhibition in Muscat, which brought together 90 companies, was held in a 300 square meter exhibition facility. IKCO took pride of place at the show with their latest models on display, namely the Dena, Soren, Samand and Runna vehicles. 

According to a press release from the carmaker, Oman is an ideal base for Iranian firms to expand on the Arabian Peninsula with its close geographical proximity to Iran helping reduce transport costs for Iranian firms. 

The company acknowledged that presently 55% of vehicles sold in the Omani market belong to the Japanese car giant Toyota, while only a tiny proportion belongs to IKCO.

Iranian cars presently have a miniscule market share across the wider Middle East and North Africa. The largest export markets currently include Iraq and Azerbaijan. 

Entering the Omani market has been more difficult due to several hurdles including logistics and funding. 

The company intends to increase its market share over the next few years with cars produced in the sultanate as well as exports from new joint ventures in Iran; IKAP (PSA Group-IKCO) to name one recently signed deal.

Attending the exhibition, the Iranian charge d’affaires, Mohammad Tootoonchi said, “Oman is potentially a great market for Iranian vehicles and Dena can adequately represent Iranian cars in the Arab country.”

He added that although Iran’s automakers are not currently well known or represented in the neighboring markets, IKCO will be able to grow its market share in the next few years as its range of vehicles expands. 

“Since Omanis prefer automatic vehicles, IKCO’s automatic Dena could be welcomed if exported to Oman,” he said.

It was reported last week that the governments of Iran and Oman are discussing prospects for setting up a plant in the Persian Gulf sultanate. 

According to previous reports on the JV, Iran wishes to establish a car production facility in the Duqm Special Economic Zone in the next few months.