Iran to export passenger cars to Russia

Iran's largest carmaker, Iran-Khodro Company (IKCO), received the required standard certificate from Russian Standard Organization, and is allowed to hit the Russian market with its modern products. The Russian Standard Organization audited IKCO cars to enter the country for 2 years. Samand, Soren and Runna sedans received the Euro IV standard from the Russian organization to be present in the Russian market for two years. During the meeting attended by IKCO senior managers and Russian Standard Organization authorities, IKCO senior vice-president Abbas Maleki emphasized the importance of export and said, "IKCO's new management has adopted a new 5-year export strategy and has invested in this field." Abbasi declared that Russian car market is big enough to lead IKCO to CIS market and added, "This is not a short term investment and IKCO will go for Euro V standard to stay in this market." In the meantime, IKCO export deputy Ali Elmi pointed out that the Euro IV standard certificate could pave the way for IKCO products to enter markets as Kazakhstan, Belarus, Ukraine and other CIS countries. He also mentioned IKCO would try to supply the market demand for this big region and claimed, "We sold more than 11000 cars in the Russian market from 2006 to 2008, however lack of Euro IV standard, kept us away from this market." Elmi noted that a long-term presence in the Confederation of Russia after the deadline for cars with Euro IV standard required a precise planning and mentioned, "Our experience in this market tells us that we need to take every measure into account to acquire Euro V and VI standard certificates in order to successfully stay in this market for a long time. It's noteworthy Samand is a well-known car with its own fans in the Russian market where a fan club for this car is founded.