Mohsen Salehi said on Sunday that there was a misconception in the West that the Iranian auto industry will not be able to survive under sanctions including a ban by Peugeot to sell spare parts to Iran.
However, Iran has achieved successes in the auto industry and even it has produced new models of cars including Rana which will hit the market in the next two months.
In an interview with the Mehr News Agency, Salehi said, “All the problems related to the firing of workers in Peugeot company is not related to the Iran sanctions because this company is wrestling with other problems but it seems that that the sanctions on Iran” has had “debilitating” effect on the “company in recent months.”
The company is also facing diving sales in crisis-hit southern Europe.
On July 12, PSA Peugeot-Citroen announced a drastic cost-cutting plan to slash 8,000 jobs in France and close a major factory north of Paris, shocking workers and startling the government.
isna/281
