Automobile Technology & Industry
Brief History | Automobile Manufacturing Companies | Iranian Cars
Since the Islamic revolution Iran did not have any significant improvement in automobile production. They kept producing the same cars and some new European cars such as Peugeot & Kia until a few years ago when car manufacturing companies started designing new cars.
Brief History
The first car imported into
Iran was a Ford that Mozaffaredin Shah, the king of Qajar, had purchased from
Belgium. This car which puffed much smoke was renowned as "smoky chariot".
Following urbanization process since 1920, the importing trend of cars
increased. Most automobiles of that time were brought from the USA and England.
The first car manufactured in Iran was called "Paykan". It was produced in "Iran
National Industrial Corporation" licensed by British Talbot Company and offered
to market in 1967. Later on, Iran National Company, on a gradual basis, assumed
the manufacture of other vehicles like pick up, minibus and passenger bus. In
the same year, two models of American "Rambler" cars locally called "Aria" and "Shahin"
were produced by Pars Khodro, however, one year later, in 1968, a model of
French Citroen named "Dyane" was offered by SAIPA company to the national
market.
In 1972, Pars Khodro transformed into "Iran General Motors" and started
manufacturing two models of Chevrolet (Opel) 2500 cc and 2800 cc as well as
three other cars licensed by American General Motors, namely; "Buick",
"Cadillac" and "Chevrolet Nova". The production of these cars continued until
1981. In SAIPA Company the production of "Citroen Dyane" stopped in 1980,
however, the manufacturing of "Renault 5" that had already been launched in 1975
went ahead. Later the production of innovative cars such as "Pride", "Peugeot
405 and 206", "Nissan Patrol" and "Mazda 323" started and
some has continued till
today.
Automobile Manufacturing Companies
Iran Khodro Is the national Iranian car manufacturer and besides continuing to make the trucks, buses and the national car "Peykan", they are now producing a new Paykan which the first car that is completely designed and manufactured in Iran and uses Iranian parts. Also they've been producing "Peugeot 405" for over ten years and now most parts are being produced in Iran. They have a version of Peugeot 405 called "Peugeot Persia" which is redesigned and produced in Iran. More than a year ago the Iran Khodro started the production of the new "Peugeot 206" in Iran which is one of the most popular cars in Iran.
SAIPA For the past 30 years, SAIPA has been working hard to give a significant boost to its ability in manufacturing of high quality passenger cars and pick-ups. The consequent achievement can be traced from the original assembly of the two-cylinder Citroen mini passenger car “Dyian” to the manufacturing of “Renault 5” and “Renault 21” and presently the production of small passenger cars, “Nasim” and “Saba” which are 4-door and 5-door cars respectively, and the 2-ton load capacity pick-ups called “SAIPA 24” for the local and export markets. Today SAIPA is the Iranian company with more new models than any other company.
Pars Khodro Pars Khodro which has become a subsidiary of SAIPA is the leading manufacturer of SUVs in Iran. The most common SUV is Nissan Patrol which was manufactured using Japanese parts but is now being produced completely in Iran.
Today there is a very large number of cars produced in Iran. Here you can find detailed information on some.
 Samand (New Paykan) |
 Caravan |
 Xantia |
 Peugeot Persia |
 Peugeot 206 |
 Peugeot 405 |
 Daewoo Matiz |
 Nissan Patrol |
 SAIPA 141 |
 Saba |
 Nasim |
 Nasim Safari |
 c457 Bus |
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 SAIPA Minibus |
 A prototype by Iran Khodro |
