Peugeot and SAIPA, an Iranian auto conglomerate, have signed the joint venture agreement, deepening Peugeot’s return to the Iranian market after the removal of anti-Tehran sanctions, The Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday.
Under the deal, the joint venture will design and produce Citroëns at one of Iran’s main automobile production sites in the central city of Kashan, Isfahan province.
The French company said it plans to invest more than €300 million ($330.1 million) in industrial capacity and research and development at the site over the next five years.
It added that the first cars will roll off the assembly lines in Kashan in 2018.
The sanctions were lifted after Tehran and the Group 5+1 (Russia, China, the US, Britain, France and Germany) on July 14, 2015 reached an agreement on Iran’s peaceful nuclear program and started implementing it on January 16.