Eurasia Press & News
TEHRAN (Fars News Agency)- Croatian Ambassador to Tehran said that the people of East Europe are waiting for the Iranian-made passenger car ‘Samand’.
She also said that after the launch of operation of Samand assembly line in Azerbaijan and Belarus, the manufacturing company, Iran-Khodro, now has better chances for gaining access to the CIS and East European markets.
According to the diplomat, Iran-Khodro officials have announced that they would soon start exports of Samand to Poland, while the company is now studying other East European markets, including Romania and the republics of former Yugoslavia.
Iran-Khodro has undertaken to make a joint venture investment of IR100 billion in its branch in Venezuela called ‘VENIRAUTO’, which means control of 51% of the company’s shares by Iran-Khodro for, at least, the next five years.
The assembly line for the manufacture of the popular Iranian-made ‘Samand’ automobiles will be officially inaugurated in China in the near future.
‘Samand’ trade name is now registered at the World Intellectual Property Rights Organization (WIPO).
Iran-Khodro group, the Iranian car manufacturer and owner of Samand, is the first Iranian company whose product is registered at the WIPO.
The state will ensure against the fraudulent use of the name, industrial design, and copying of the product manufactured by the company worldwide.
Azerbaijan, Belarus, Syria, Vietnam and China are among the many world countries which either have asked for or are already assembling this popular Middle-Class automobile.
Meanwhile, the Director for Asia and Pacific region of Iran-Khodro said here in July that Bangladesh and Pakistan have ordered over 5,000 gas-powered Samand models with right-hand steering-wheels.
He also reckoned that given the financial capability of South Asian markets and competitive advantage that Iran enjoys, the company can gain a foothold in these markets in a relatively short period of time.
“Iran-Khodro can with a cohesive and detailed planning gain a share of the market.”
The company has other automobile production ventures with foreign countries and companies in a bid to market share for increase exports to regional markets.
Meantime, a new model of Samand, Iran’s first passenger car achieving Euro III emission standard, rolled off the assembly line just two months ago.
Aside from reducing its exhaust gas pollutants, the fuel consumption of the sedan has also been cut, and as a result of the modifications made to the new models of Samand, particularly its Engine Management System (EMS), the engine performance has been significantly enhanced.
Better drive ability, knock reduction and improvement in the engine’s power output are cited as other changes made to the earlier model, he added.
