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Tag: Islamic car

  • Iran Khodro to design D8 joint car

    Iran Khodro to design D8 joint car

    Iran Khodro Co. (IKCO) has announced that the Group of Eight Developing Countries (D8) has chosen the company to design the platform for their joint car.

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    The D8 industry ministers attended a summit in Istanbul from October 4-6, 2011 and appointed IKCO to design the D8 joint car with the cooperation of Turkey and Indonesia, read a statement released by IKCO on Sunday.

    D8 members include Iran, Turkey, Malaysia, Pakistan, Nigeria, Egypt, Bangladesh and Indonesia.

    D8 members also agreed to promote research and development activities in the fields of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) technology, hybrid technology, plug-in cars, new materials and nano-technology.

    “Improving the quality, level of technology and also the capacity if supply chain was another issue settled by the D8 vehicle working group,” the statement continued.

    IKCO was founded in 1962 and is currently regarded as the biggest automaker in the Middle East.

    The company won an award from Tehran’s Third International Nanotechnology Festival in 2010, as the leading company in nano-related auto industry.

    HMV/HGH

    via PressTV – Iran Khodro to design D8 joint car.

  • Iran Automaker Khodro Turns to Turkey as Proton Quits `Muslim Car’ Venture

    Iran Automaker Khodro Turns to Turkey as Proton Quits `Muslim Car’ Venture

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    Iran Khodro, the country’s largest carmaker, plans to discuss joint venture plans with Turkey after Malaysia pulled out of a project to build a car focused on Islamic buyers.

    “An economic and industrial delegation will come within two weeks to Iran to start initial negotiations,” Mir Javad Soleimani, the company’s deputy chief executive officer for quality and product development, said in an interview today. “If we reach an understanding we will begin producing an Islamic car.”

    The possibility for cooperation was brought up by Turkey’s industry minister during a recent visit by Iran’s first vice- president, said Soleimani.

    The new automobile “will be a brand specifically for Muslim states,” he said. “We will target their markets.” He did not name the Turkish automobile company considering the project and declined to say how much investment was needed as talks are underway.

    Iran is part of the Developing Eight (D-8), a group of emerging countries with large Muslim populations that have formed an economic alliance.

    The Persian Gulf state initially sought to pursue a similar plan with Proton Holdings Bhd., Malaysia’s state-controlled carmaker.

    “Proton pulled out and we are now looking into this with Turkey, which is interested,” Soleimani said, without detailing the reason for the Malaysian company’s decision.

    D-8 Members

    The D-8 is comprised of Bangladesh, Egypt, Malaysia, Iran, Indonesia, Nigeria, Pakistan and Turkey.

    Iran produced 1.39 million cars in 2009 including commercial vehicles, making it the world’s 12th largest carmaker after Canada, Mexico, France and Spain, according to the International Organization of Motor Vehicle Manufacturers. China and Japan are the world’s two largest car manufacturers, the Paris-based organization said on its website.

    Iran Khodro, which was founded in 1962, produced about 680,000 vehicles in the last Iranian calendar year that ended on March 20th.

    To contact the reporter on this story: Ladane Nasseri in Tehran at lnasseri@bloomberg.net.

    To contact the editor responsible for this story: Maher Chmaytelli at mchmaytelli@bloomberg.net