January 10, 2020
truck plant that was abandoned by Germany’s Mercedes Benz.
The Islamic Republic says it is opening a heavy-duty truck manufacturing plant that was abandoned by Ger-many’s Mercedes Benz after US sanctions were re-imposed.
At full production, the plant will employ 5,000 people, the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) reported New Year’s Day.
The Chapar plant at Mesh-ginshahr in northwest Iran will manufacture 50 trucks a day at full production. It is currently operating with 400 workers, but another 800 people will soon be added.
“This massive automotive project is predicted to be finalized and launched in the next four years, in which case 5,000 people will be working in the production unit,” the Tasnim news agency said.
Media reports said many of its parts are identical to the original parts, but it didn’t explain how that could be true if Mercedes Benz was no longer involved.
Mercedes Benz had established a joint venture with Iranian vehicle manufacturer Iran Khodro and Iran’s Mammut Group to assemble Mercedes Benz trucks and powertrain components in the country.
Daimler, which owns Mercedes Benz, joined France’s Renault and its competitor Peugeot-Citroen to put their investments in Iran on hold after US sanctions went back into effect in 2018.
Iran’s Minister of Industry, Mines and Trade Reza Rahmani has said Renault and Peugeot will never be allowed to return to Iran given their repeated failures to honor their commitments.
Last month, Rahmani said 20,000 unfinished cars were gathering dust at the parking lots around Iran’s leading auto manufacturers because parts needed in their production could not be imported due to the sanctions.
But he said. “With the help of the defense industry and the private sector, we supplied most of the parts internally and completed and delivered about 10,000 vehicles.”
The automotive sector is the second largest industry after oil and gas and, with a turnover of about $12 billion, it plays an important role within Iran’s econ-omy, comprising 10 percent of the country’s GDP and 4 percent of its workforce.
Moreover, it supports about 60 other industries, such as glassmaking, aluminum, copper, steel, rubber, textiles and paint.