Tongyao YIN, president and CEO of Chery Automobile Company, as the only representative of Chinese auto industry, accompanied Chinese President Xi Jinping to Iran for a state visit on January 22.
During the visit, an agreement was signed to launch the Chery Iran Auto Industry Park expansion project. It is Chery’s first move to implement its “Globalization 2.0” strategy in the Middle East, which is aimed at building a globally competitive auto brand. As China’s largest export enterprise among independent auto brands, Chery took root in Iran a decade ago, Automotive World reported.
Following President Xi’s visit, Chery’s cooperation with Iranian enterprises is expected to expand further. Iran’s relevant state entities have offered strong support to the project, showing that Iran’s auto industry is willing to work with China’s auto industry represented by Chery and further promote the development of Iran’s auto industry.
As the newest achievement in the implementation of the “One Belt and One Road” (B&R) initiative, the Chery Iran Auto Industry Park will make a significant contribution to economic and trade cooperation between China and Iran.
As China’s first passenger vehicle manufacturer in Iran, Chery initiated cooperation with Modiran Vehicle Manufacturing Company (MVM) early in 2004 to export complete knocked-down kits for vehicle assembly.
In 2009, Chery became MVM's largest shareholder and established a localization team in Iran to take charge of the operation and management of the joint venture.
In Iran, Chery has built a plant with an output of 60,000 units per year and established over 150 sales and services networks in cities such as Tehran, Mashhad, Isfahan and Tabriz.
Through 12 years of efforts, Chery’s joint venture has made it one of the largest automaker in Iran. Chery topped the list of foreign brands in Iran with sales of nearly 40,000 units in 2014 and 2015 consecutively. By late 2015, Chery’s market shares in Iran reached 180,000 units, accounting for over 50% of China’s total passenger vehicle exports to Iran.
Chery launched models such as Tiggo 5, Tiggo 3, E5, Fulwin 2 and New QQ based on local market demands. It will launch two or three new models annually to meet local demands at different levels.
To promote its development in Iran, based on the national industrial support policy of “B&R”, Chery has worked out a plan for expanding the Iran Auto Industry Park.
With the gradual launch of Chery’s new-generation models in Iran, Tongyao said Chery would achieve the goal of selling 100,000 units annually in the coming three years.
With the aim of building a vehicle-dominated park, the industrial park will bring in Chinese automotive parts manufacturers, automotive equipment manufacturers, automotive service enterprises and relevant enterprises to form a regional manufacturing cluster.
