Proton Malaysia Open 2009

South Korea's Lee Hyu Jong, left, Lee Hyo Jung, 2nd left, and champions Indonesia's mixed doubles pair Liliyana Natsir, 2nd form right, and Nova Widianto, right, pose on the podium after the Malaysia Open 2009 finals at Putra Stadium, Kuala Lumpur, on Sunday.

SAIPA 141 production line kicks off in Venezuela

The plant to produce Iranian passenger car of Saipa 141 came kicked off in Venezuela on Sunday. Venezuelan high-ranking officials and the managing director of Iranian auto-maker SAIPA attended the inauguration ceremony of the plant dubbed "VEN.IR.Auto".

"VEN.IR.Auto is planned to produce 5,000 units of Saipa 141 by the end of this year. Its final capacity is estimated at 20,000 units per year, which is expected to be fulfilled within the next three years," Ahmad Qalebani, SAIPA managing director, said.

Noting that Saipa 141 is the first Iranian passenger car produced at the Latin American state, he added that it is supplied at the price of $7500 to 8000.

SAIPA outpaces Iran Khodro first time ever

SAIPA left behind its longtime rival car manufacturer, Iran Khodro Company (IKCO), in the first half of the year (Iranian year started March 21, 2006) by substantial gap, the Persian service of ISNA reported.

This was the first time ever, the manufacturer of popular Pride passenger cars outran the IKCO in over a decade-long competition. Thanks to production of 195,450 Prides in the first six months which outpaced the record annual production of past-time favorite of Iran's auto market, the bygone Paykan.

The period witnessed total of 222,520 passenger and commercial vehicles churned out by SAIPA, whereas IKCO had to be happy with 175,000. The figure is still far off from the announced annual production of 600,000.

SAIPA, Iran Khodro post 10% rise in car production in 2008

The giant subsidiaries of the Industrial Development and Renovation Organization of Iran (IDRO), SAIPA and Iran Khodro, posted a 10 percent rise in car production in 2008.

At a time when the world’s major carmakers are experiencing production cuts due to a steep decline in sales caused by the global financial crisis, Iran’s car industry is booming, which is a sign of the country’s industrial independence, stated a report on the IDRO website.