Latest News

It became known which Iranian cars are already in Russia

Official distributors presented Iranian models, which will go on sale this summer. They will be officially supplied and sold, and the first batches of new cars are already in showrooms.

Behind the wheel

There is no particular doubt that in the course of the summer all the promised goods will appear at dealers in most large cities in the central part of Russia.

The Moscow company “Rolf” at the end of April announced that it had become the exclusive partner of the IKCO brand (the former name, more familiar to us – Iran Khodro). Two distributors were engaged in the supply of cars of the SAIPA brand at once – the St. Petersburg company Best Motors and the Minsk company Lucky Carensi. The model range was already presented on the websites of companies in May, but without reference to the prices of specific configurations.

How much will Iranian cars cost

Behind the wheel

Determining the price range is easy. For example, “Rolf” even before the start of official sales traded “used” IKCO Tara imported under the parallel import scheme. “Used” consists in the declared runs of 1000-1300 km (under its own power through Iran to the port?). Iran Khodro Tara 2022 sedans with a 113-horsepower engine and automatic transmission were offered for 1.3-1.45 million rubles.

The Rostov dealer Don Motors has been selling the same model since winter – in a fixed configuration for 1.4 million. And the IKCO Dena + sedan (150 hp, automatic transmission) is offered for 1.5 million.

It is alarming that for containers imported under a contract with the manufacturer, the recommended price is stated above. A car with a manual gearbox is estimated at 1.53 million rubles, with a machine gun – at 1.7 million rubles.

The three announced SAIPA models – two sedans and a hatchback – will be in the same price range, judging by their pedigrees. You should not count on the sounded “from 1 million” in the sense that the simplest model can be bought for a million.

The Saina compact sedan is sold in Iran for 700-800 thousand rubles (in terms of the rial). Delivery, customs clearance, VAT, waste collection, dealer margin – add at least another 500 thousand. With small volumes of sales, prices will also be reflected in the costs of obtaining a vehicle type approval (OTTS) in NAMI – a set of tests, including mandatory crash tests, started in April.

Strictly speaking, 1.5–1.7 million are the prices of the Kia Rio and Skoda Rapid models at the end of last year. That is, the “Iranians” do not compete with Granta and Vesta (Granta is cheaper, Vesta NG from the first batch is more expensive), but with themselves. At the moment, among new cars, this price sector is almost empty: Accents-Solaris imported from Kazakhstan cost under 2 million.

How many Iranian cars are planned to be sold in Russia

Behind the wheel

IKCO’s intentions are still rather cautious: to sell 2000 cars, in some future to expand the lineup – up to commercial vehicles.

SAIPA has a more serious scope: 5,000 cars in the first year, then 20,000 cars in the future – the initial contract is for three years. Firm “Best Motors” announced the creation of 120 dealerships in the space from Kaliningrad to Perm. And he is looking for a platform for SKD assembly.

In the long term – expansion of the line of sold cars due to other SAIPA models, as well as several pickup trucks of its subsidiary Zamyad. Note that neither SAIPA nor IKCO offer crossovers (and they do) – apparently, because we already have an excess of crossovers.

The issue with the guarantee is still open: a two-year “dealer” one will be for sure, but a full-fledged factory one is also possible – 3 years or 100 thousand km.

Who will buy Iranian cars

Behind the wheel

The most difficult question is: will the “Iranians” come to the Russian consumer at all?

There are two polar opinions on this. Some experts recall that Iran Khodro already came to us in 2006-2008, and did not achieve any noticeable success with the Samand model. It will not achieve even now, since buyers are aware that the basis of modern IKCO and SAIPA models are twenty-year-old chassis and units.

It can be argued that Grants are based on the chassis and units of Kalina, which has been produced since 2004, but in general the design goes back to 1984 and to the VAZ-2108 Sputnik. And nothing, Grant has been and remains the leader in sales.

So it’s not about archaic technology, but about an attractive (or not) price / set of qualities ratio. Well, we must take into account that the market for sedans and hatchbacks in the segment of 1.5-2 million rubles is now far from being saturated. So Iranian companies have a chance to occupy a niche. At reasonable prices, of course.

Iranian cars that are already in Russia

Behind the wheel

We have already talked about some features of the Iranian auto industry (ZR No. 10, 2022), but now there are more details.

Both IKCO and SAIPA assemble machines of other brands, and develop their own models on old European, Japanese and Korean platforms, “inherited” from the models that they assembled earlier. The localization of production is very high – over 90%, so almost all the main units are also made in Iran. And all of them, too, by and large, were borrowed from someone and modernized over the years.

In sum, we have cars of a simple design, with archaic and unpretentious engines and gearboxes. For the “budget” segment – what you need. Is it possible to consider that 1.5 million rubles is, as it were, inexpensive for Russians? The market will show.

IKCO TaraIKCO TaraIKCO Tara

Model 2020. Slightly larger than Vesta. The product of a deep modernization of the Peugeot 301, with which many parts, including some body parts, are interchangeable. The engine of the TU5 1.6 family (113 hp) – its variants were used on Peugeot and Citroens until 2015. The motor is one of the most prosperous: a cast-iron block, 16 valves, there are hydraulic compensators, quite reliable (except for capricious ignition coils), with a resource of 300 thousand km. The Iranian hypostasis differs from the progenitor by phase regulators of its own design. The mechanical five-speed is also from Peugeot/Citroen. Six-speed automatic – licensed Aisin Chinese assembly.

Simple equipment (for cars with manual gearbox): two frontal airbags, ABS, ESP, air conditioning, cruise control, 7-inch touch screen, heated mirrors, rear parking sensors, all electric windows. Rain and light sensors, a sunroof and two more pillows appear in the rich one.

IKCO Dena+ (Everything Plus)

The model was mentioned in the context of the likely start of sales in Russia. A descendant of the same Samand that was sold with us and which, in turn, is a descendant of the Peugeot 405. The word Plus or the “+” sign denotes a restyling of 2017.

IKCO EverythingIKCO Everything

There are two possible engines: EF7‑NA 1.6 (113 hp) and its turbo version EF7‑TC (150 hp) – both are based on the same TU5, both are dual-fuel and are designed for the use of compressed natural gas (CNG) . As for the reliability of the atmospheric, you can not worry, there is no clarity about supercharged. The set of gearboxes is the same – manual or six-speed automatic.

Dena+ is also slightly larger than Vesta, similar in equipment to Tara.

Continued on the next page

Related Articles

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Back to top button