Kamaz to tap up to 15% of Iran’s heavy trucks market

MOSCOW, February 4. /TASS/. Russia's largest truck producer Kamaz plans to tap 10-15% of Iran’s market of heavy trucks, the company reported on Thursday with reference to Director General Sergey Kogogin. "Amid shrinking local market Kamaz plans to increase the rate of tapping international markets, and for doing this we’re ready to offer various options of equipment’s design conforming to technical rules of different countries. The markets of Vietnam, Iran, Indonesia, Egypt and Peru are most promising now. Iran’s heavy trucks market looks as the most promising one with annual volume of up to 20,000 cars while Kamaz has potential to tap 10-15% of the market," the report cited Kogogin as saying. On Wednesday Chief Executive of Kamaz Foreign Trade Company Rafail Gafeev told TASS that Kamaz is ready to resume truck assembling in Iran. The assembly line of Kamaz worked in Iran from 2007 to 2010. "We initiated the entry on the Iranian market in 2002 and made first supplies of complete trucks at 2005 year-end. We opened an assembly line with our partner in 2007 and delivered only knocked-down kits from 2007 to 2010. The same scenario will be implemented now - certification at first, followed by delivery of complete trucks and arrangement of assembly," Gafeev said. No Kamaz trucks have been sold in Iran after 2010. "We sold nothing in Iran during recent five years. We are actually beginning from scratch; there are just about 300-400 trucks in my business plan for 2016. Certification will take at least six months. Demo trucks will be supplied to the market later on, therefore 400 trucks is a good figure to begin from the ground up," the chief executive said. Over 2,000 Kamaz trucks were sold on the Iranian market before 2010. "Kamaz brand has been well known since then at least in provinces close to the East Azerbaijan, where the assembly facility operated," Gafeev added. Kamaz is a leading manufacturer of heavy trucks in Russia. The company is producing over 40 models of trucks, along with trailers, buses, field engines, power plants, and various tools. Read more