October 14, 2022
With European car-makers refusing to export to Russia anymore because of the invasion of Ukraine, Iran Khodro, the country’s largest automaker, has decided to make a big push to sell its models across Russia.
It made a similar push in 2007, but found its products did not appeal to Russians, and pulled out in 2009.
The question is: Will it now do better, given that its big competitors are no longer present?
Mehdi Khatibi, managing director of Iran Khodro, said, “We are going to pay special attention to the Russian market, and we are also thinking of partnering with Russian investors.” He didn’t name any potential Russian linkups. In the past Iranian firms worked mainly with French firms, chiefly Renault and Peugeot, which have pulled out of Iran because of US sanctions.
Khatibi said Iran Khodro had already held “good negotiations with Moscow,” but didn’t say with whom in Moscow.
Russian auto output has plummeted since Europe imposed sanctions after the invasion of Ukraine in February. Russian auto firms can no longer import the more hi-tech parts they rely on from abroad. But Iran cannot supply those parts either. In fact, Iran is having the same problem of getting hi-tech parts that Iran cannot make. Iran Khodro boasted August 5 that it had tracked down some parts suppliers and had reduced the number of unfinished cars it had parked outside its factories from 65,000 a year ago to a “mere” 13,000 as of August 5.
Saipa, Iran’s second largest carmaker, announced later that it has agreed to buy Lada engines from Russia that will be plugged into the Renault-designed Logan, which is called the L90 Tondar in Iran. The Tondar line has been closed for four years. Lada is Russia’s biggest selling car model. Russian carmakers are widely viewed as third rate. They sell few cars outside their domestic market and aren’t likely to be able to provide any added value to Iran’s carmakers.
