Already enjoying a big demand for its Samand and Soren models among Turkish consumers, IKCO has been looking for an opportunity to invest in Turkey’s burgeoning auto industry for nearly a year now, since the Iranian Industry and Mining Ministry requested IKCO’s presence in the Turkish market with a manufacturing facility. Speaking to the Anatolia news agency on Tuesday, the general manager of MYS Automotive, IKCO’s distributor in Turkey, Yiğit Seskır, recalled the visit of a delegation including Iran’s Industry and Mining minister, Ali Ekber Mehrabian, and IKCO General Manager Cevad Necmeddin last week in Ankara to investigate the progress in the process of investment.
The delegation also held a meeting with Turkish State Minister for Foreign Trade Zafer Çağlayan, Seskır said. “The project is about to be completed. The studies to find the most suitable place for the plant are continuing at quickly as possible and we hope to find this place shortly.”
The Iranian company has no special preference for or prejudice against any specific location and is considering all valid options, Sensır said and added that the construction will start immediately after the location is chosen. “We are receiving offers from all around Turkey. The investment will cost nearly 60 million euros. We are expecting the factory will open the door to 300 million euros of exports annually,” he acknowledged. Sensır further said that the plant will be able to turn out any of the company’s new models, not only the Samand and the Soren.
