Kia Motors has issued the following press release:
Kia Motors Corporation today announced that its popular Rio compact sedan will be assembled and sold in the Iranian market beginning early next year. Under the agreement between Kia and its Iranian partner, Saipa Corporation (which already locally produces the Kia Pride subcompact model), Saipa will assemble the compact Rio SF sedan on a knockdown basis (i.e. disassembled kits exported by Kia for local production by Saipa).
Accordingly, Saipa will install new production facilities at its Tehran plant and will start manufacturing in early 2005. The company expects to assemble some 100,000 Rio SFs annually. Coupled with annual production of 200,000 Pride subcompacts, the Tehran facility will have an annual production capacity of 300,000 vehicles. — 2005 Geneva International Motor Show.
Kia’s knockdown business in Iran working with Saipa began in 1993; since then, a total of 739,875 Prides have been assembled and sold as of June of this year.
At the contract signing ceremony, S.H. Amiri, Vice President of Saipa Corp., said, ’Over the past 12 years, Kia Motors has emerged as the most trusted car company in Iran. I fully expect that the Rio SF, with its top-notch quality and refined design, will far exceed the past success achieved by the Pride.’ — China Brilliance introduces new FRV.
Given that the import of completely assembled vehicles is prohibited in Iran, prospects remain bright for the compact passenger car business on a knockdown basis. In particular, 196,864 of the 600,000 automobiles assembled and sold in Iran last year were Kia Prides, giving the popular model a 32% share of the market and cementing itself as the number one selling passenger car in Iran. — Toyota's fully redesigned compact models.
Kia Motors expects to sell 240,000 Prides in Iran by the end of the year, a 22% increase over the previous year. With the timely introduction of the Rio SF building on the stellar performance and brand enhancement achieved by the Pride, Kia Motors looks to consolidate its position as the leading passenger car company in Iran.
