PSA Peugeot Citroen announced that discussions are at an advanced stage with partner Iran Khodro Industrial Group, a leading Iranian car producer, over opening a new auto making venture in Iran after a diplomatic breakthrough lifted sanctions against the country.
An accord recently reached in Vienna between the Western powers and Iran is going to lead to significant progress in the French company’s plans according to Jean-Christophe Quemard, chief of Peugeot Africa & Middle East. A previous partnership between PSA Peugeot Citroen and Iran Khodro regards the re-assembling of older Peugeot models produced in European factories. The new venture in Iran would include car manufacturing using the latest architectures and engines from the French Group. Quemard said this project will deliver a generational leap.
International car manufacturers with Peugeot in the front spot and its French rival, Renault, have been wanting for a while now to expand onto the Iranian market, which has produced 1.6 million cars in 2011 before a series of economic sanctions were placed over its nuclear program.
PSA Peugeot Citroen has seen a small growth of 0.4% for the first half of 2015 in spite of the European market rebound, this because of a big decline in demand from the Latin American consumers and also weak sales of the Citroen brand over there. The automaker stated that deliveries rose from 1.541 million last year to 1.547 million up until June this year. After a close call with bankruptcy in 2014, Peugeot is doing its best to cut costs and streamline its model line-up following a recovery plan implemented by the brand’s CEO, Carlos Tavares.
Source: Inautonews.com
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