The Middle-East's largest car manufacturer, Iran-Khodro Company (IKCO), announced that it will produce 30 thousand cars, mainly Samand, in Iraq this year.
IKCO CEO Javad Najmeddin said that more than three thousand cars have been produced in Iraq since the beginning of IKCO activity in the country.
IKCO production plant launched operation in Iraq in early 2011 and dispatched 8000 cars to Iraq in the same year.
The production capacity of the plant is 30 thousand cars a year. IKCO agent in Iraq is the investor of this production site. IKCO transfers SKD (Semi Knock Down) parts and coated car bodies to the plant.
IKCO runs more than 30 after-sales service centers in Iraq. These centers provide services in Iraq's main cities like Baghdad, Najaf, Karbala, Basra, Maysan, Dhi Qar, Erbil, Sulaymaniyah and Kirkuk.
The plant is currently assembling SKD parts. The parties aim to sign a contract to transfer required technology and establish the needed equipment to upgrade the level of production.
IKCO exported about $400 million worth of cars to Iraq in 2010 and 2011, while establishing new production lines in IKCO plant in Iraq would lead to the production of other cars like Runna in that site.
