Thursday, April 28, 2005
Wheels
Iran to bid farewell to old English motorcar
Agence France-Presse
Tehran, April 28, 2005
MG Rovers are not the only British cars faced with oblivion: in Iran, the aged Hillman Hunter will soon roll off the production line for the very last time.
Known here as the Paykan, the Hunter has for decades served as Iran's national car.
But environmental concerns as well as demands for more style and comfort mean the ubiquitous model has been forced to give way to more modern French rivals.
"The Paykan is a part of us," said Manuchehr Manteghi, managing director of Paykan manufacturer Iran Khodro. "It drives with ease to every village and down every road, and it rarely lets you down. People are attached to it."
But the company, the largest car maker in Iran and the Middle East, is eager to put its Paykan days behind it, or else remain lumbered with the image of producing outmoded, polluting and decidedly ugly cars.
"Iran Khodro has always been unfairly judged as the maker of the Paykan.
"So it will be an advantage to terminate the old fashioned Paykan and get rid of the stereotype," explained Manteghi, who himself drove one of the foolproof but decidedly plain cars for 12 years.
The Paykan was once a car that would turn heads, at least when production commenced here in 1967 under a deal with Talbot, another doomed British motor manufacturer.
But that was nearly 40 years ago, and since then drivers have been spoiled with luxuries such as stylish bodywork, air conditioning, and brakes that work properly.
The Paykan's fuel efficiency is also as appalling as its looks, drinking the same amount of petrol as a 12-cylinder Lamborghini supercar.
Having held the full production rights to the Paykan since 1979, Iran Khodro has been slow to diversify -- largely because of the turmoil of the revolution and the subequent 1980-1988 war with Iraq.
But in recent years Iran Khodro has begun assembling more modern cars such as the functional Peugeot 405 and the trendy Peugeot 206 -- and now Paykans count for just a third of the 6.5 million cars on Iran's roads.
A joint venture between Iran Khodro, local rival Saipa and France's Renault has also been set up to produce the Logan model, which will potentially replace the Paykan -- which costs around 61,000,000 rials (6,853 dollars) -- as the budget car of choice for ordinary Iranians.
According to Yusef Hojjat, the deputy head of Iran's Environmental Protection Organisation, "any car, including the Paykan, that cannot meet our latest environmental standards" has to go.
So at Iran Khodro's sprawling plant west of Tehran, the last Paykan is due to be bolted together within weeks -- something the workforce have yet to come to terms with.
"I inherited this job from my father. I'm going to miss it,"lamented 40-year-old Mahmoud Kaheh as he took a morning tea break in the noisy workshop.
"We are all indebted to the car," explained another technician, Amir-Shahab Yarian. "Right from getting a driving license, we have all been at the helm of a Paykan."
But existing Paykans are likely to be chugging along for quite some time.
"The older Paykans, because they have more foreign-made parts, are die-hard, low maintenance machines that can drive very long distances in one go without any technical problem," enthused one proud owner of a 27-year-old model who still gets daily requests to sell it.
And according to Iran Khodro, the company is committed to supply spares for another 10 years. "I think it will ultimately take seven to 10 years for Paykans to become a rare item on the streets," said Manteghi.
© HT Media Ltd. 2005.