IKCO Talking With Nissan for Joint Production

EghtesadOnline: Iran Khodro is moving ahead with a plan to produce mid-range cars with the Japanese automaker Nissan.

News ID: ۷۷۹۰۰۴

04 September 2017

The company CEO Hashem Yekezare told reporters “IKCO is set to sign a partnership deal with [Nissan’s] Datsun before the end of the current fiscal [March 2018],” automotive website Asbe Bokhar reported.

According to the official, Nissan has expressed interest in sending completely knock down kits to be assembled in Iran. IKCO-Nissan negotiations started in early 2016. No further details were available.

The Iranian company is aiming to produce cars for the mid-range segment through the JV.  Yekezare has said the vehicles will be priced less than 400 million rials ($10,000) – a claim made in the past two decades by almost all carmakers and without exception honored in the breach, according to Financial Tribune.

Nissan had phased out the name Datsun but re-launched it in June 2013 as a brand under which low-cost vehicles are manufactured for emerging markets.

After the nuclear deal Iran signed with the six  world powers in 2015, several international automakers have shown interest in working with Iranian companies.

IKCO has seized the opportunity and signed several joint venture deals with foreign firms. It  signed a joint venture with France’s Peugeot in 2016. Dubbed IKAP, several models are to be produced through the JV.

A subsidiary of the company, Iran Khodro Diesel, has a production deal with Hyundai for the production of urban and intercity buses, mini-buses and mini-trucks.