Iran vehicle production at record high

Iran Khodro Company says its production stands at a record high of 600,000 as global car industry continues to suffer from weak demand.

Iran Khodro Company, the Middle East's largest automaker, announced Sunday that the company produced 58,000 more vehicles during the past Iranian year (ended March 20) compared to the same period of the previous year. 

Iran Khodro Company --IKCO -- currently produces 10 vehicles under 52 brand names. The company also manufactures various vehicle models in seven countries across the globe. 

IKCO plans to increase its production to one million vehicles a year by January of 2009. It is anticipated that 800,000 will be produced at domestic plants and the remaining will be produced at sites outside Iran. 

New products of IKCO such as the private passenger Samand, the wheelchair-accessible Samand, the R90, a second generation LNG-powered 7-seat van, and the new dual-fuel Peugeot sedan 470 were inaugurated at the country's largest international auto exhibition in Mashhad and will soon be available to consumers. 

Chief of IKCO Manouchehr Manteqi said IKCO's sales reached about 9 billion dollars in 2007; there are plans to increase sales to 20 billion dollars in 2010. 

Many car manufacturers in the world have been forced to suspend or cut production in the face of falling sales due to the current global economic crisis.