Iran Khodro

The word khodro (خودرو) means "automobile" in Persian, hence Iran Khodro means "Iran Automobile".

Iran Khodro was founded by Ahmad Khayami, with registered in the capital of 100,000,000 Rls, on August 29, 1962 Aliakbar Khayami, Ahmad Khayami, Mahmoud Khayami, Marzieh Khayami and Zahra Seyedy Dashty, in Ekbatan world in Tehran.

Iran Khodro Industrial Group (IKCOOS) is a public joint stock company with the objective of creation and management of factories to manufacture various types of vehicles and parts as well as selling and exporting them. IKCOOS produces vehicles under 13 brand names.

The company has become the largest vehicle manufacturer in the Middle East, Central Asia and North Africa.[8] In Iran, it is the largest vehicle manufacturing company, having an average share of 65 percent of domestic vehicle production.[9]

In 1997, IKCO broke its own production record by producing 111,111 units of various passenger cars and vans. By 2006 Iran Khodro was producing 550,000 vehicles (for the Iranian year 1384, starting on 21 March 2006).

The opening of the country's largest car assembly plant in Razavi Khorasan in July 2008 is expected to increase capacity with the ability to turn out 100,000 vehicles per year by late 2009. However, it will not necessarily increase production.

Iran Khodro, the largest car manufacturer in the Middle East, produced 774,965 units of passenger cars and commercial vehicles in 2010 and aims to produce and market 850 thousand cars in 2011.[10]

Paykan Hillman Hunter

Iran Khodro has qualified for ISO 9001 from RW-TUV, Germany, as well as many other health, safety, and environment certificates including ISO 14001 and OHSAS 18001.[11] The company has also obtained TÜV, TSE, GOST and some other important standard certification for its different productions.

Iran's automobile production crossed the 1 million mark in 2005. Iran Khodro is one of the largest car manufacturers in Asia. It has established joint-ventures with foreign partners on 4 continents.

For more than three decades, Iran Khodro produced the Paykan, a car developed from the Rootes Group's Rootes Arrow range, best known as the Hillman Hunter. Paykan saloon car production was discontinued in 2005, almost thirty years after the end of Arrow production (latterly as the Chrysler Hunter) in Britain. A pick-up version was still in production until 2015.[12] Bardo Pick-up, pick-up version of Paykan, will be replaced by a new pick-up called the Arisun which is related to the Samand .[13]

Iranian-designed IKCO Samand, replaces the dated Paykan as Iran's "national car", and features a part-Iranian designed CNG/petrol dual-fuel engine in its Soren variant.

Front view of Samand LX

The firm has a long-term relationship with European and Asian manufacturers including PSA Peugeot Citroën, manufacturing and assembling a number of models under license from these firms. In 2009, Peugeot 206, Peugeot Pars, Peugeot 405, Peugeot Roa, and Samand sedans were IKCO's export-bound cars sent to Azerbaijan, Iraq, Armenia, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Syria and Afghanistan.[14] As at 2012, IKCO products incorporate 5-10 percent of components imported from France. IKCO's parts imports from Peugeot accounted for 700-800 million euros ($572–654 million) per year.[15] Iran has reached 98% of self-sufficiency in producing Peugeot 405 parts and 75% in Peugeot 206 parts.[16] By ending year 2012, Peugeot cuts its relations with Iran Khodro due to international sanctions against Iran. Four years later, in 2016, after reaching Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action between Iran and E3+3, Iran Khodro and Peugeot decided to make 50%-50% joint venture named IKAP to start the relations again.

Renault Pars is in charge of the engineering, quality control, parts supply, logistics, managing sales policies as well as marketing and customer services for Renault products in Iran and IKCO is one of its main shareholders that produces Tondar for the domestic market. Renault Pars is a joint venture, 51 percent of which belongs to Renault of France. Forty-nine percent of Renault Pars' shares is jointly held by Iran's Industrial Development and Renovation Organization, IKCO and Saipa. The company was established in 2003.[17]

IKCO also manufactures trucks, buses and E-Class passenger cars under license from Mercedes-Benz. In a joint-venture with Daimler AG, Iran Khodro is to start production of sophisticated 900-class Mercedes-Benz engines; Daimler states that Iranian-made engines will be exported to Germany.[18] Among Asian automotive manufacturers, IKCO is cooperating with Suzuki. Producing Suzuki Grand Vitara in IKCO's Site in Khorasan, IKCO will produce Suzuki Kizashi.[19]

In 2012, IKCO announced that at least 3% of the company's sales will be allocated to research and development.[20] As of 2015, the company's 7-year strategic plans for product development are in body design, die making, suspension, powertrain, trim and car electronics.[21]

Newsly Italian car design firm 'Pininfarina' signed a €70 million 36-month contract with Iran's biggest car producer, Iran Khodro Group on for the development of four new models and to give the carmaker a second wind in research and development of new models. The agreement will help develop a modular automotive platform for four different vehicles, and the first passenger car of the medium segment of the market, a press release from the Italian firm said.[22][23]

Iran Khodro factory in Tehran

IKCO has 12 production site around the globe, 6 sites in within borders of Iran and 6 other in IKCO's main export markets. In its five-year (2012–17) future growth prospective, IKCO envisions an annual manufacturing capacity of three million units, with exports of a million units per year.[24]

Domestic plants:

Foreign sites:

Peugeot Pars (formerly known as Peugeot Persia or simply Persia)

• Peugeot 206; a saloon version of the 206, the Peugeot 206 SD also co-developed with Peugeot in year 2005.
• Peugeot 207i; by 2011, icko produced about 15,000-20,000 units Peugeot 207i. The production of 207i stopped in 2012 during relation cut between icko and Peugeot because of international sanctions against Iran.
• Peugeot 405; available in saloon trims GLi and GLX and estate trim GLX
• Peugeot 405 trim SLX with 1.6L 16 valve PSA TU5 engine
• Peugeot 407; as CBU (about 2000 are imported to Iran by Iran Khodro)
• Peugeot Pars; initially called the Peugeot Persia. Changes include a redesigned front and modernized rear
• Peugeot RD; chassis and drivetrain are similar to the older Paykan but the outer body shell and appearance resemble a 405, production of this car had been halted.
• Peugeot ROA; modified version of Peugeot RD, production of Peugeot ROA is going to halt.[28]

Peugeot 405

Peugeot 206

Peugeot 508

• Peugeot 508
• Peugeot 2008
• Peugeot 301

• Dacia Logan; both IKCO and Saipa produce the car as "Tondar90".
• Renault Captur

• Suzuki Grand Vitara - Compact SUV which is divided to different 4 main models:
  • 2000 cc engine with 4-speed automatic gearbox
  • 2000 cc engine with 5-speed manual gearbox
  • 2400 cc engine with 4-speed automatic gearbox
  • 2400 cc engine with 5-speed manual gearbox
• Suzuki Kizashi

• Haima S7
• Haima S5