Peugeot CEO Sees Iran Return Slowed by Fallout From Its Exit
2015-07-29 13:26:11.749 GMT
By Mathieu Rosemain
(Bloomberg) -- PSA Peugeot Citroen is finding that getting
divorced from its partner in Iran was easier than making up
again.
Peugeot’s image has taken a hit in Iran because of its
abrupt departure in 2012, when sanctions were imposed, Chief
Executive Officer Carlos Tavares said in an interview. The
French company is struggling to close an agreement with former
partner Iran Khodro Co. to return to the market, where it has
ambitions to regain its former leading position.
The French auto manufacturer frets it could be left behind
as the oil-rich nation prepares for a flow of foreign investment
following a preliminary agreement on its nuclear program. Iran
Khodro CEO Hashem Yeke Zare said on Tuesday his company had been
damaged by Peugeot’s withdrawal from the market.
“Our partner should be concerned about having a Western
partner that can bring him the technology and modernity that
customers are expecting,” Tavares said in his ninth-floor
office in the manufacturer’s Paris headquarters. France’s image
in Iran is “slowing down our talks.”
Iran’s biggest automaker, Iran Khodro built Peugeot
vehicles from kits of parts. In 2012, the partners sold 473,000
units. Peugeot stopped supplying kits to Iran Khodro that year
as political pressure mounted following a partnership agreement
with General Motors Co.
“Peugeot needs to address this issue,” Yeke Zare told
reporters in Tehran. “There are other companies we can look at
to be our main partner.”
Peugeot’s Competition
Peugeot has plenty of competition for the local
partnerships Western manufacturers will need to be successful in
post-sanctions Iran. Volkswagen AG and truckmaker Daimler AG are
both exploring a return.
Iran Khodro is in talks on a truck, van and bus partnership
with Daimler, Yeke Zare said. The state-controlled company may
replace Peugeot with French rival Renault SA, he said.
Volkswagen would also be an “appropriate” partner, he said,
adding that the German company is talking to an Iranian
carmaker, but declining to identify which one.
A failure to return to Iran, where IHS Automotive estimates
the market could average 1.7 million vehicles in annual sales in
the longer term, would be a blow to Peugeot. Like its
competitors, the French carmaker is facing a market downturn in
China even as it tries to expand its activities outside Europe.
Peugeot has said it hoped to sell 400,000 units in Iran out of
the 1 million it aims to deliver annually in Africa and the
Middle East by 2025.
Peugeot “must always look after alternative solutions and
a wide range of interlocutors and investment opportunities,”
Tavares said. “The world is big enough.”
German Economy Minister Sigmar Gabriel went to Iran to
discuss investments on July 19, just five days after Iran
reached an agreement with six global powers, including France
and Germany, to curb the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program in
exchange for easing economic sanctions. French Foreign Minister
Laurent Fabius followed, meeting Iran President Hassan Rouhani
on Wednesday.
For Related News and Information:
Peugeot First-Half Earnings Surge on Car Pricing Improvement
Volkswagen Explores Return to Iran After Sanctions Lift
Peugeot Set to Benefit Most of European Peers From Iran Deal
Peugeot cash-flow tables: UG FP <Equity> FA CF <GO>
Peugeot earnings graph: UG FP <Equity> FA ISBAR <GO>
Peugeot management data: UG FP <Equity> MGMT <GO>
Peugeot shareholder charts: UG FP <Equity> PHDC1 <GO>
Top Transport Stories:TRNT<GO>
Top news from France: TOPF <GO>
Bloomberg Intelligence European carmaker data: BI AUTME <GO>
--With assistance from Golnar Motevalli in Tehran.
To contact the reporter on this story:
Mathieu Rosemain in Paris at +33-1-5530-6298 or
mrosemain@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story:
Chris Reiter at +49-30-70010-6226 or
creiter2@bloomberg.net
Naomi Kresge, Tom Lavell
2015-07-29 13:26:11.749 GMT
By Mathieu Rosemain
(Bloomberg) -- PSA Peugeot Citroen is finding that getting
divorced from its partner in Iran was easier than making up
again.
Peugeot’s image has taken a hit in Iran because of its
abrupt departure in 2012, when sanctions were imposed, Chief
Executive Officer Carlos Tavares said in an interview. The
French company is struggling to close an agreement with former
partner Iran Khodro Co. to return to the market, where it has
ambitions to regain its former leading position.
The French auto manufacturer frets it could be left behind
as the oil-rich nation prepares for a flow of foreign investment
following a preliminary agreement on its nuclear program. Iran
Khodro CEO Hashem Yeke Zare said on Tuesday his company had been
damaged by Peugeot’s withdrawal from the market.
“Our partner should be concerned about having a Western
partner that can bring him the technology and modernity that
customers are expecting,” Tavares said in his ninth-floor
office in the manufacturer’s Paris headquarters. France’s image
in Iran is “slowing down our talks.”
Iran’s biggest automaker, Iran Khodro built Peugeot
vehicles from kits of parts. In 2012, the partners sold 473,000
units. Peugeot stopped supplying kits to Iran Khodro that year
as political pressure mounted following a partnership agreement
with General Motors Co.
“Peugeot needs to address this issue,” Yeke Zare told
reporters in Tehran. “There are other companies we can look at
to be our main partner.”
Peugeot’s Competition
Peugeot has plenty of competition for the local
partnerships Western manufacturers will need to be successful in
post-sanctions Iran. Volkswagen AG and truckmaker Daimler AG are
both exploring a return.
Iran Khodro is in talks on a truck, van and bus partnership
with Daimler, Yeke Zare said. The state-controlled company may
replace Peugeot with French rival Renault SA, he said.
Volkswagen would also be an “appropriate” partner, he said,
adding that the German company is talking to an Iranian
carmaker, but declining to identify which one.
A failure to return to Iran, where IHS Automotive estimates
the market could average 1.7 million vehicles in annual sales in
the longer term, would be a blow to Peugeot. Like its
competitors, the French carmaker is facing a market downturn in
China even as it tries to expand its activities outside Europe.
Peugeot has said it hoped to sell 400,000 units in Iran out of
the 1 million it aims to deliver annually in Africa and the
Middle East by 2025.
Peugeot “must always look after alternative solutions and
a wide range of interlocutors and investment opportunities,”
Tavares said. “The world is big enough.”
German Economy Minister Sigmar Gabriel went to Iran to
discuss investments on July 19, just five days after Iran
reached an agreement with six global powers, including France
and Germany, to curb the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program in
exchange for easing economic sanctions. French Foreign Minister
Laurent Fabius followed, meeting Iran President Hassan Rouhani
on Wednesday.
For Related News and Information:
Peugeot First-Half Earnings Surge on Car Pricing Improvement
Volkswagen Explores Return to Iran After Sanctions Lift
Peugeot Set to Benefit Most of European Peers From Iran Deal
Peugeot cash-flow tables: UG FP <Equity> FA CF <GO>
Peugeot earnings graph: UG FP <Equity> FA ISBAR <GO>
Peugeot management data: UG FP <Equity> MGMT <GO>
Peugeot shareholder charts: UG FP <Equity> PHDC1 <GO>
Top Transport Stories:TRNT<GO>
Top news from France: TOPF <GO>
Bloomberg Intelligence European carmaker data: BI AUTME <GO>
--With assistance from Golnar Motevalli in Tehran.
To contact the reporter on this story:
Mathieu Rosemain in Paris at +33-1-5530-6298 or
mrosemain@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story:
Chris Reiter at +49-30-70010-6226 or
creiter2@bloomberg.net
Naomi Kresge, Tom Lavell