Competitor for "Zhiguli": Iranian cars are driving to Russia

A compact Saina sedan, a Quik hatchback and a flagship Shahin sedan will be brought to Russia. Prices for them will vary from 1 million to 1.7 million rubles, according to the Autonews portal. Earlier it became known that another Iranian automaker will also come to Russia — under the name Iran Khodro. One of the brand's cars has already been sent to Russia for certification. It is planned that a total of 45 thousand cars of the Iranian brand Saipa will be delivered in the amount of 450 million. For the first year, 10 thousand cars will come, and then 15 and 20 thousand.

Network analyst Yevgeny Kogan writes in his channel that it is about the return of automakers from Iran to the Russian market, since in the 2000s the Iran Khodro Samand car (a sedan based on Peugeot 1987) was already sold in Russia, however, despite its huge popularity in Iran and in many other countries, this car could not gain fame in Russia.

Despite the sanctions, Iran is one of the largest car manufacturers in the Middle East. His cars are exported to many countries around the world. It is especially worth highlighting the two largest brands – Iran Khodro (IKCO) and Saipa.

IKCO plans to return to the Russian market with the Tara sedan on the Peugeot 301 platform. Official sales promise to launch during this year, but now it is possible to purchase such a car imported by parallel import. The cost of Lada Vesta's competitor is 1.4 million rubles. It is possible that the company will start assembling its cars at one of the idle Russian enterprises, but there is no reliable information on this yet.

Saipa recently signed an agreement on the supply of cars to Russia. Most likely, the company will bring to Russia the “flagship” Shahin sedan (Toyota Corolla E160 platform) and the Saipa Quick hatchback. These models belong to the budget segment, in Iran they cost about 800 thousand in terms of Russian rubles. However, these cars will be sold significantly more expensive in our country due to various government fees protecting the domestic manufacturer and dealer margins.

At the same time, unlike crossovers from China, Iranian cars cannot yet boast of outstanding equipment. In the Russian market, they will compete with AVTOVAZ products. And the approaches of manufacturers are very similar – for decades to produce cars on the same platform with minimal modifications. In addition, there is not yet a developed network of official representative offices of these brands in the Russian Federation. As a result, there is no need to talk about affordable service and customer support, which cannot but affect the trust of customers.

However, according to analysts, Iranian cars will find their buyer, since Chinese brands are represented mainly by crossovers, and the niche of budget sedans has been significantly freed up after the departure of Western automakers from the Russian Federation.

Journalist Vasily Alenin commented on this news: "Automotive experts make fun of their "unremarkability and old-fashioned", but they praise them for a low price. Compared to the "Muscovite" of Chinese origin, it's just a gift. And we admire the fact that a country that has been under serious sanctions for only a year buys cars from a country that has been living under sanctions for 40 years..."