Leading Russian carmaker eyes localization project in Iran
AvtoVAZ CEO Maxim Sokolov said on Tuesday that launching assembly lines and dealerships in Iran will give the company a “certain competitive advantage”.
“… we are betting heavily on the Iranian direction and expect that our dealership will open there soon,” Sokolov told the official news agency Tass.
He said that a business partner from Iran, which he did not identify, has asked for the entire product line of AvtoVAZ’s Lada model, including its new Iskra model, Press TV reported.
The CEO said that Iskra would be “one step ahead” of the majority of cars currently assembled and manufactured in Iran.
AvtoVAZ seeks to expand its exports of Lada in 2025 with a special focus on markets of Iran, Kazakhstan and Vietnam, according to statements from the company.
Iranians have a good memory of old Lada models, which were famous for their safety and reliability when they hit the roads in the 1970s.
AvtoVAZ’s plans to break into the Iranian market have faced difficulties in recent years, mainly because of US sanctions on Iran.
However, growing cooperation between the automotive companies of Iran and Russia in recent years seems to have made it easier for Russian cars to enter the Iranian market.
The cooperation deepened since early 2022, when major international automotive companies, including Renault, which owned shares in AvtoVAZ, left Russia because of Western sanctions imposed over the war in Ukraine.
Iran’s two largest carmakers, IKCO and SAIPA, have signed contracts for exports of cars and parts to Russia.
Reports have also shown that carmakers from the two countries seek to launch joint manufacturing projects in the future.
Source: Morteza Ahmadi Al Hashem