Iran Khodro Company (IKCO) has produced the highest number of vehicle engines (also known as EF7 engines) ever manufactured by this company 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 thus, 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 engines, Rajabali said engines were recalibrated according to the needs of customers and new software versions were offered, 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 has succeeded in breaking its daily production record for passenger and commercial vehicle engines.
IKCO 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.
The official noted that engine production had lower variety, quality and technology, and the largest share belonged to Paykan car and pickup truck engines.
Pourmojib said the XUP, EF7, EF+, TU5 and TU5+ engines are much more advanced.
The new generation of EF Plus engine was unveiled in two aspirated models named EFP (EF+d) and TCP (TC+d).
In this regard, Rajabali said Iran Khodro has devised short-, medium- and long-term plans to develop more fuel-efficient engines and attain the standards of international car manufacturers.
“In the short-term plan, the production of engines with higher demand was reduced and the company focused on the manufacture of engines with lower consumption. Therefore, it reduced the output of the XU family engine and then completely stopped its production line. Then the company introduced its updated version, XU7 Plus, and focused more on the production of TU5 and EF7 engines, and increased the production of basic gas-powered vehicles,” he said.
“Iran Khodro's medium-term strategy was to upgrade the existing engines, so it unveiled the improved version of XU7P and TU5P engines that are currently used in its products. The latest stage of upgrading Iran Khodro's engines pertains to the popular EF7 engine family, the optimized version of which, EF Plus, was unveiled.”
Rajabali noted that Iran Khodro plans to mass produce its three-cylinder engine family known as IK3 in the fiscal 2024-25, which will help reduce fuel consumption and emissions.
Roadside Assistance Services Improve
Emdad Khodro, Iran’s main roadside assistance company, says its performance in the outgoing year (ending March 20) improved compared to last year.
The company provided services to about 1 million vehicles since the beginning of the year, up 15% in the same period of 2022, IKCO Press reported on Feb. 2.
The report said the company was able to provide affordable emergency help to customers in less than 25 minutes, which showed an improvement of two minutes and 45 seconds.
“Our company leads in terms of roadside assistance services and after-sales services, according to the assessment of the Ministry of Industries, Mining and Trade. In line with IKCO’s quality transformation plan, several measures have led to verifiable progress in the first 10 months of the current fiscal year [March 21, 2022-Jan. 20],” said Abbas Mir-Hosseini, the CEO of Emdad Khodro.
“Almost 27% of the roadside assistance were provided during the period. The only smart mechanized answering center with ISO 18295 in Iran belongs to Emdad Khodro,” he added.
Mir-Hosseini said the company logged 6.6 million incoming calls in the 10-month period, which was up 21% year-on-year.
“The answering rate of distress calls was 91%. The company had 2.5 million outgoing calls in the same period, registering a 327% growth on the same time of last year,” he added.
The official noted that his company managed to achieve 80% satisfaction of Golden Service subscribers, as it reduced the rate of complaints by providing timely services and responding to complaints in the shortest possible time (average 1.46 days).
According to data released by Iran Standard and Quality Inspection Company, customer satisfaction with this company was a robust 86.8% during the period.
Towing broken-down cars, stalled engines, minor paint jobs and repairs to drivers stuck on the road or highway are some of the services offered by the main carmaker through Emdad Khodro.
The services are provided by Emdad Khodro staff, either at the workplace or near homes via the 096440 hotline. Car owners access the company, depending on the terms of their agreement with IKCO. For instance, free vehicle recovery service is offered to brand new vehicles for the guarantee period.
