Iran’s Giant Car Maker Unveils First Homemade Gearbox

The biggest and oldest carmaker of Iran unveiled its latest achievement in the automobile industry, first home-made six-speed transmission, in a bid to start a new era of mass producing comfortable and efficient cars.

The Iran Khodro Company (IKCO) unveiled the manual and automatics types of the gearboxes on Saturday while officials announced a timetable for their mass production.

Videos showed company’s top engineers explaining the technical specifications of the gearboxes to Ali Aqamohammadi, an economic adviser to Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamanei.

Wearing an IKCO uniform, chief executive Farshad Moqimi said the manual type of the six-speed transmission would almost entirely rely on domestic industries in Iran once it reaches mass production in October, adding that output would reach 10,000 units in March 2021.

Moqimi said mass production for the automatic version of the gearbox would begin in January 2021, adding that IKCO plans to reach an annual production of 30,000 to 50,000 for the device in the coming years.

Aqamohammadi, Supreme Leader’s adviser on economic issues, said that producing gearboxes should be regarded a major success for the home-grown car industry in Iran, saying it is also a sign that the American sanctions on the industry have permanently failed.

“America had thought that with sanctions on the car industry we would raise our hands in surrender,” said Aqamohammadi, adding that car manufacturers and auto parts makers had managed to produce modern devices like airbags and car computer systems inside Iran.

The official said that until the end of the next Iranian calendar year in March 2021, the IKCO and SAIPA, another major Iranian carmaker, would unveil a first car platform that would be fully built inside Iran.

Last month, the company had announced its plan for launching its first production line for automatic transmissions in September despite sanctions.

The sanctions, enacted since November 2018 and toughened last year, have made it difficult for Iranian carmakers and spare part manufacturers to engage in partnerships with foreign companies.

However, the IKCO and other carmakers have vowed they would weather the crisis by relying on domestic expertise.