Deputy Head of Iran Development and Renovation Organization (IDRO) Reza Danesh Fahim said in Tehran on Wednesday that the agreement signed between Iran and French car giant Renault-Nissan is in line with the industry's objective of globalization of the domestic automobile industry, IRNA reported.

Danseh-Fahim said that Iranian automobile industry will not be revitalized until it has gone global, hence the agreement will be an impetus for instilling greater competition in the domestic industry.

He said capital investment in the L-90 project will total 1.5 billion euros. The investment outlays will be disbursed in two phases with a 750,000 million euro segment earmarked to complete the initial phase of vehicle manufacturing plant and the other to be allotted for establishing a joint IDRO-Renault-Nissan auto-parts company.

He said the agreement stipulates for 50 percent of production to be carried out domestically, "to be gradually augmented to 80 percent."

Over, 20 percent of domestically manufactured automobiles are slated for exports to 20 countries, which have been identified, with six more nations under negotiations, he added.

The price is estimated to be around 8,000 euros for the full option models, Danesh-Fahim said adding "but, the precise price tag has yet to be determined."

Meanwhile,, the Persian-language newspaper 'Mardomsalari' quoted IDRO Deputy Chairman Rahim Esmaeili as saying that production of L-90s will depend on market conditions.

Esmaeili said the Franco-Iranian company would produce 150,000 L-90s in the next phases of the project, adding that Iran Khodro can also increase its production capacity of the sedans to as much as 250,000.

He said the L-90 cars will be produced using the design which is provided by Renault. The IDRO official further stressed that within the next phases of the project, SAIPA and Iran Khodro will implement their own designs and internal decoration on the L-90 platform.

Esmaeili also said that Iran Khodro and SAIPA can even mount their preferred automotive parts on the platform.

Malaysia's Proton seals auto alliance with Iran's AIDCO

Malaysia's giant automaker Perusahaan Otomobil Nasional Bhd (Proton) announced on Wednesday that it had sealed a strategic alliance with Iran's Automotive Industry Development Company (AIDCO) to develop Iran's auto sector over the next 16 years, IRNA reported from Kuala Lumpur.

Malaysia's Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad witnessed the signing of the alliance by Proton Chief Executive Mahaleel Arif and AIDCO Chief Executive Officer B. Alimoradlou at the prime minister's department.

According to the agreement, Proton will supply AIDCO with Malaysian designed vehicle platforms and its own CAMPRO engines and would also help AIDCO in developing its R&D and manufacturing capabilities of AIDCO's two subsidiary auto giants -- Iran Khodro and SAIPA -- until 2020.

Proton also said the agreement would set the stage for the establishment of a joint venture company with AIDCO in three months. It added that the venture would be licensed to assemble, manufacture and sell Proton's new generation 'C' segment under a brand name that will be mutually determined.

Mahathir told reporters after the signing ceremony that the new cooperation between Iran and Malaysia over the auto sector was one way of proving to the world that Muslims were quite capable of developing new technologies.

"We hope this will help correct people's wrong perception of Muslims and our capabilities," he added.

Also, the Proton CEO Mahaleel said this was the first time Proton was offering Malaysian automotive technology and engineering capabilities to a third party.

In return, he said, the move would give Proton access to a market that had the potential to buy over one million cars a year.

AIDCO head Alimoradlou said the automobile sector in Iran and Malaysia have achieved a significant development, adding that the Proton-AIDCO agreement would prepare the ground for both countries to exchange expertise in that sector.

He also stressed that the agreement was AIDCO's first with a foreign company.

AIDCO is a subsidiary of the Industrial Development and Renovation Organization (IDRO) whose objective is to develop Iran's automotive industry.

The company's alliance with Proton comes on the hills of IDRO's announcement on Tuesday that it had signed a contract with the French-Japanese auto giant conglomerate Nissan-Renault worth one billion dollars for the production of L-90 sedan cars, also known as X90, in Iran.