April 26, 2024

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[THE INVESTOR] Ssangyong Motor, the local unit of Indian automaker Mahindra & Mahindra, shipped the most number of its flagship compact SUV Tivoli to Iran this year, the company announced on Dec. 14.

Ssangyong Motor exported a total of 6,673 units of Tivoli this year through November to Iran, the largest number of Tivoli sales outside of Korea. Belgium ranked second, followed by Spain. 

Fueled by Tivoli’s success, the automaker exported a total of 6,823 vehicles to Iran as of November, showing a sevenfold rise from the previous year. The automaker is expected to hit the 8,000 mark by end of this year.

The figure is a grand feat from an average of 1,000 units annual sales since the automaker entered the country in 2010. Since its debut at the Iran International Motor Show in Mashhad in October last year, Tivoli has contributed to Ssangyong’s growing popularity in the country’s rapidly expanding automotive industry.

“Following the removal of trade sanctions on Iran, global companies in Europe and Japan are rapidly entering the market. We expect to see expansion of imported SUV market in Iran,” Ssangyong Motor CEO Choi Johng-shik said in a statement.
“Through Tivoli, which is already gaining market share, we plan to actively respond to the fast changing Iranian market and further establish a foothold to target the Middle East and the African markets.”

International sanctions on the Islamic republic were lifted in January this year in exchange for curbs on Iran’s nuclear program.

By Ahn Sung-mi (sahn@heraldcorp.com)