Iran Khodro (IKCO) Modifies 2 Models to Enlarge Market Share

The largest auto manufacturer Iran Khodro Company (IKCO) has unveiled two upgraded models of Dena and Peugeot 207.

Keyvan Vaziri, ICKO manager, said “The models are Iran Khodro’s response to customer demand for new sedans,” ILNA reported.

The two cars were unveiled at IKCO’s local production center in west Tehran in the presence of the media and industry officials January 15.

 207i Automatic Sedan

The first to be unveiled was an upgraded version of the 207 model, whose production restarted at the back end of 2016.

The Peugeot 207 Automatic Sedan is a mishmash of the Peugeot 206 sedan released in 2006 and the 207i hatchback, which was known as 206+ in the European market.

According to Vaziri, the model’s mass production will start in February and should be ready for sale in August.

Production of the 207 halted in 2012 due to a lack of parts and shortage of third party support from French auto parts companies due to sanctions on Iran.

Prices have not yet been announced for the new sedan, but are likely to be around 30 to 40 million rials over the standard hatchback version in the local market.

Accordingly, the model is estimated to cost 419 million rials ($11,000) according to the initial price list. Some dealers and showrooms are already pre-selling the hatchback version for 510 million rials -- $2,000 over and above the official company price.

During the previous round of production, the 207i sold for 360 million rials ($9,470).

Production of the upgraded sedan comes as part of PSA Group’s new joint venture with Iran Khodro that commenced in the summer.

As part of that deal, Peugeot will invest $300 million in the joint venture and produce several new models.

 Dena+

IKCO also unveiled an upgraded version of Dena sedan. Vaziri said “improved safety standards” define the upgraded Dena+ model.

The original Dena model hit the buffers from inception, with the car being delayed for several months due to sanctions blocking the import of parts. The new version is seen as a tweaking of the original.

The original version of Dena had two stars in the five-star ranking system of Iran Standards and Quality Inspection Company in late 2016.

Meanwhile, the new Dena+ looks to fill in the gaps of the original version with additional front and side airbags, a rearview camera, and a new sunroof.

The dashboard for the Dena+ appears from photos to be the same as the original with only the steering wheel changing from the previous version.

The car also has an upgrade to its outer body. The new version comes with chrome edged window frames, Mercedes-Benz like paneling and a slight shrinking of the rear passenger door windows.

According to the IKCO official, the company is set to collaborate with a South Korean company to import parts for the model. The model is expected to be in the market before the fiscal year is out in March.

The Dena model is based on the 30-year-old Peugeot 405 platform as are all of IKCO’s large sedan models.

Both the 207i automatic sedan and the Dena+ will be exported to regional markets, according to the company official. Dena is already in the foreign markets, namely Algeria, Iraq, and Oman.