IKCO ready to supply spare parts if Peugeot imposes sanctions

Iran Khodro Spare Parts and After-Sales Services Company (ISACO) downplays sanctions against Iran, saying it is completely ready to supply spare parts for IKCO cars in case PSA Peugeot Citroen imposes embargoes on the company.

ISACO Chief Executive Officer Behzad Zahiri told reporters on Thursday that the company will proceed with its plans which are mainly focused on improving customer satisfaction, increasing spare parts market share, broadening international markets and domestic sourcing of the network needs.

He also said that IKCO has not yet received any official announcement from Peugeot indicating a halt in their mutual cooperation.

ISACO CEO noted that the company seeks to take advantage of domestic production capabilities.

ISACO spare parts supply chalked up by 45 percent in 2011 compared to the previous year. The company is shooting for a 25-percent growth in supplying spare parts for IKCO cars this year.

Currently 10 to 15 percent of spare parts required for IKCO cars are supplied by Peugeot. In case Peugeot stops spare part supply, the required parts could be easily replaced by domestic suppliers or suppliers from other countries.

Last year, 37 percent of the needed spare parts were globally outsourced and ISACO aims to reduce this amount to 23 percent.

Iraq, Belarus, Russia, Ukraine, Venezuela, Senegal, Algeria and Tunisia are the main target markets for ISACO.

The French auto-manufacturing group PSA Peugeot Citroen has suspended operations at one of its factories in northeastern France because of a halt to shipments of spare parts from Iran.

PSA Peugeot Citroen reportedly stopped its trade with Iran on February 20 after the enforcement of US-led sanctions against the Islamic Republic for its nuclear energy program.

Iran was PSA Peugeot Citroen’s second-biggest market in 2011 in terms of trade volume.