Peugeot, Renault Ties to Iran Deepen

Data released by two major French carmakers has it that Iran accounts for 21% of cars sold under Peugeot’s brand worldwide and has a 6% share in Renault’s global sales.

French automotive companies PSA Group (Peugeot owner) and Renault Group have recently released their 2017 sales reports and say Iran has been a driving force for their sales.

In a press release, PSA Group said it sold 444,600 cars in Iran in 2017 under Peugeot license held by Iran Khodro, following a joint venture agreement signed in June 2016. Iran has 83.4% share of PSA vehicles sold under the brand in the Mena region.

Close to 2.11 million Peugeot cars were sold globally indicating a 10.4% year-on-year increase. Iran had a 21% share of the brand’s global sales.

Renault reports that it sold 162,079 vehicles in Iran in 2017, which accounts for 79.7% of vehicles sold by the auto giant in the Middle East. It sold 2.6 million cars across continents.

Renault Group is made up of the namesake Renault brand, Alpine, Automobile Dacia from Romania, Renault Samsung Motors from South Korea, and AvtoVAZ from Russia. Iran is the group’s eight largest market and Renault’s third largest market after France and Brazil.

The automotive group sold 3.7 million cars in 2017. Iran accounts for 4% of its global sales.

 PSA Group

In China, the world’s biggest car market, and in Southeast Asia, PSA reported a decline in sales of 37.4% to 387,000 units.

At the same time, the automotive giant reports consolidated sales in the Middle East and Africa region up by a solid 61.4% year-on-year increase at 618,800 units, “notably driven by the group’s dynamic performance in Iran.”

The group’s overall market share in the region came in at 11.6% and has steadily risen since 2015. Peugeot cars have a 31.8% in Iran’s large and expanding market that experts say is gradually reaching saturation point.

Groupe PSA’s Peugeot and Citroen have signed two separate joint venture deals with two main Iranian car companies, IKCO and SAIPA.

IKCO and Peugeot signed a €400-million deal in June 2016. Through the 50-50 joint venture known as Iran Khodro Automobiles Peugeot (IKAP), three models, namely Peugeot 208, 2008 and 301, will be produced in Iran.

IKCO currently assembles four Peugeot models namely 405, 206, 207 and 2008. According to Ministry of Industries data, during the nine months to Dec. 21, 327,320 Peugeot cars were assembled.

SAIPA-Citroen joint production deal in July 2016 obliges the Paris-based carmaker to invest €300 million in Iran over five years for the development and production of three models.

Both deals are mentioned in PSA Group’s annual report. Assembly line of the 2008 was officially launched in May 2017. SAIPA also started a test assembly of the Citroen C3 this week.

 Renault World

In the company’s press release, Renault’s country managing director for Iran, Pascal Felten, said, “Iran’s results are significant. Iran has acquired the first place in Renault brands sales in Africa and the Middle East and in the world after France and Brazil, the country is in the third place.”

“With an increase of 50% in market share now Iran’s name is shining in Renault’s world,” he adds.

Felten further vows that Renault operations in Iran will be more focused on offering quality products and developing human resources.

With 162,079 vehicles sold in Iran last year, it registered a 49.3% YoY increase and 10.8% share of the domestic market.

The French carmaker signed a €660-million trilateral production deal with Industrial Development and Renovation Organization of Iran and a local private company Negin Khodro last August. Three Renault models, namely Kwid, Duster, and Symbol are to be produced in Iran under the deal. It is reported that the first Kwids should be in the market by late 2018.

Currently, two Renault models Logan and Sandero are produced/assembled in Iran by local carmakers Iran Khodro and Pars Khodro.

During the nine months to Dec. 21, more than 116,000 Renault cars were produced/assembled in the country.

Vehicles produced by the French automotive giant in other countries are also available in the local market through imports.