Iran’s 16th International Auto Exhibition in the northeastern city of Mashhad in Khorasan Razavi Province concluded on Friday.
The event, which ran from August 8 to 12, showcased new models by national and international automakers. Iranian firms also announced the approximate prices of their products, Persian Khodro, a local automotive website, reported.
IKCO
Iran Khodro Company, the largest domestic auto manufacturer, unveiled five Peugeot models: 308, 301, 208, 2008 and 508.
IKCO’s Sales Director Mostafa Khankarami talked about these models in details and announced their tentative prices.
“Peugeot 2008—the first product of IKCO’s joint venture with French carmaker PSA Citroen—will be priced between 750 million and 900 million rials ($20,000-$25,000),” he said.
“The presales of Peugeot 301 will start in the second half of the current Iranian year (started March 20). This model will cost between 470 million and 600 million rials ($13,500-$17,000).”
The official noted that depending on the engine, the price of Peugeot 208 will be somewhere between 600 million and 650 million rials ($17,000-$18,500).
Khankarami also said Peugeot 508 will be tagged at 1.6 billion to 1.85 billion rials ($45,700-$52,800), in the same price range as Renault’s Talisman and Toyota models available in the local market.
The price for the 308 model was not announced.
At the same event, IKCO’s Public Relations Department conducted a customer interest survey and visitors voted for Peugeot 2008 as the best new model showcased by IKCO.
SAIPA
SAIPA, the second largest domestic automaker, also had a significant presence at the event.
The company showcased Citroen C6, C4 Aircross, C3 and C4L. The price for the new models will fall between 600 million and 1.3 billion rials ($17,000-$37,000).
These recent developments only came about after SAIPA and Citroen signed a deal last month.
In the same event, Mehdi Jamali, the company’s CEO explained details of the joint venture agreement with Citroen and answered several questions about SAIPA’s recent deals with foreign firms.
According to Jamali, SAIPA has already signed deals with IVECO, Zamyad, Nissan, Brilliance, Changan and Citroen. He added that his company is discussing deals with Renault and Kia Motors.
MVM
The local representative of the Chinese brand Chery, Modiran Vehicle Manufacturing Company (MVM), also unveiled two models at Mashhad Auto Expo: an updated version of MVM X33 and the Arrizo 5.
MVM X33 is a local variant of China’s Chery Tiggo 3 that was released in 2015.
The approximate prices of the company’s products fall between the same range as the products of IKCO and SAIPA: 470 million-1.85 billion rials ($13,500-$52,800). This might boost competitiveness in Iran’s auto market.
ISACO Application
Iran Khodro’s spare parts and after-sales services company was also present at the event.
The company announced two intertwined new services at the event.
ISACO has released a mobile application named after the company, which is available on Café Bazaar, Iran’s Android application marketplace.
Users can access a broad range of auto services, including mechanical repairs and auto parts.
ISACO has launched an on-road mechanical service.
By simply tapping the SOS button on the homepage, the app will pick up on drivers’ location via GPS and send motorcycles equipped with all the essential tools for service.
The app aims to help speed up the vehicle servicing process since, in addition to on-road emergency services, users can get services at their place of residence instead of spending hours waiting at service centers.
At the time of writing this article, the app had been downloaded over 5,000 times and was given a five-star rating by most users who participated in Café Bazaar’s online poll.
ISACO has been declared the best after-sales service provider in the country for three consecutive years.
