Iranian car manufacturer looking for new foreign partner

TEHRAN, Aug 1 (AFP) - The Iranian car manufacturer Saipa, which used to be allied with France's Renault, is looking to sign an agreement with another foreign car firm for the manufacture or assembly of a new model of compact car.

Saipa advertised on Saturday in the Tehran daily Etellaat the technical specifications of the model it hopes to produce.

The firm said it wanted to produce a four-door car of less than 1,000cc. The advert asked interested firms to contact its offices for further details.

Saipa is Iran's second biggest car producer and currently manufactures under licence the economy model Pride of South Korea's Kia Motors. It has also manufactured Renault-5s for several years.

Saipa's bigger rival Iran Khodro, which holds 65 percent of the market, is allied with France's Peugeot with which it signed an agreement last month for the construction of the Peugeot 205.

Iran Khodro already produces the Peugeot 405 as well as the Peykan, a copy of the British Hillman that has been manufactured locally for almost 40 years.

A third Iranian firm, Pars Khodro, has for several years produced the Nissan Patrol jeep under an agreement with the Japanese firm.

A fourth Iranian firm, Iran Khavar, has produced commercial vehicles under an agreement with Germany's Mercedes for around 30 years.

Iran announced in early July that it planned to boost car production from 135,000 units to 211,000 in the next few months.

In February, the government said it planned to invest nearly one billion dollars in the development of Iran's car industry.

Related links

* Iran News
* Complete list of Iranian online media
* Cover stories
* Who's who

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