Iran's SAIPA and Volvo Trucks discuss closer ties

[kscarbel2]

Financial Tribune  /  November 2, 2017

President and CEO of Volvo Trucks Martin Lundstedt conferred with [Iranian truckmaker] SAIPA chief Mehdi Jamali over the expansion of business ties and new production lines.

The talks were held during a visit by Lundstedt and Volvo managers to SAIPA headquarters in west Tehran on Tuesday, the local company’s news website reported.

Both sides expressed hope to expand collaboration through “joint production of commercial vehicles.”

Jamali said SAIPA is interested in building ties with the Swedish company, noting that it is also planning to export a portion of its jointly produced commercial vehicles.

The two carmakers have a history of collaboration.

Under a deal signed in July, SAIPA Diesel will assemble 3,500 Volvo FH heavy goods vehicle during the current fiscal which started in March. As per the agreement, 5,000 units will be assembled next year.

SAIPA Diesel CEO Mohammad Sadeqi, also present at the meeting, referred to Volvo Trucks’ plan on technology transfer, saying, “Currently, only 20% parts used in the FH models’ are manufactured locally ... We have reached an agreement to increase the share to 30% next year.”

The SAIPA subsidiary’s chief further said that his company is planning to become the regional hub for Volvo commercial vehicles and sell to regional markets along with Central Asia and North Africa.

Note: Iranian truckmaker SAIPA is the distributor for both Volvo brand trucks and Dongfeng-Volvo joint venture trucks. Dongfeng is wholly-owned by the Chinese central government and run by the communist party.

.