The top Iranian automaker is trying to prioritize exports to Russia, its CEO said on Sunday, as both countries suffer from Western economic sanctions.
Iran Khodro unveiled the latest model of its Rira crossover vehicle at its plant west of Tehran, where CEO Mehdi Khatibi announced the manufacturer’s ambitions for the Russian market.
“We will pay special attention to the Russian market and we are also considering partnership with Russian investors,” he said.
“We had good negotiations with Moscow. The Russian market with its capacities will be one of our important markets,” added Khatibi.
“We will start exporting to Russia this year,” he said.
Iran Khodro had previously exported vehicles to Russia, particularly between 2007 and 2009, Iranian media said.
Sunday’s announcement comes after Russian President Vladimir Putin visited Tehran in July and met his Iranian counterpart Ebrahim Raisi and Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Russia has faced increasingly tough sanctions since its invasion of Ukraine in February, while Iran faced harsh sanctions that were re-imposed in 2018 when the United States unilaterally withdrew from a nuclear deal between Tehran and world powers.
The two countries have responded to the sanctions by stepping up cooperation in key areas to prop up their economies.
Vice President of Iran Khodro Kianoush Pourmojib struck an upbeat note on Sunday, pointing to increasing exports to Azerbaijan over the past five years.
“We are ambitious to improve the quality of our vehicles,” he told AFP.
He added that while the manufacturer hopes to compete in markets like Azerbaijan, Oman and Iraq, “in terms of volume, of course, Russia is the most important.”
“This year we will produce more than 500,000 vehicles and our goal is to export 100,000 vehicles annually within three years,” he said, compared to less than 20,000 currently.
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