Iran’s second largest carmaker Saipa says its first plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) will hit the market in the calendar year to late March 2024.
Saipa’s CEO Mohammad Ali Teymouri said on Saturday that delivering a first batch of PHEVs to buyers in the Iranian market will enable the company to develop a hybrid version of its popular model, Arya.
Teymouri’s statement comes some five years after Saipa unveiled a prototype of its first PHEV under the brand name of Saina EV. The company announced at the time that the car was a joint project between Saipa and Iran’s Khajeh Nasir University of Technology.
That comes as Saipa’s rival the IKCO, which is Iran’s largest carmaker in terms of output, had announced plans for commercial launch of its all-electric model Tara EV this year. The company has also unveiled Electric RANA for delivering to buyers in the Iranian market.
US sanctions imposed on Iran since 2018 has led to growth in Iran’s home-grown automotive industry as carmakers have benefitted from a larger share of the domestic market as well as a major increase in supply of steel and other raw materials from local plants.
Government figures show vehicle output in Iran rose by nearly 40% year on year in the calendar year to late March.