Iranian Diesel Passenger Cars to Hit Markets

Iran's largest auto-manufacturing company, Iran Khodro (IKCO), plans to mass-produce the country's first diesel engine car and mount it on its most popular product, Samand passenger car, by early 2012.

"The first test sample of this engine was unveiled in November 2009, and it has since passed various tests successfully and we will be mass produced in 2011," said IKCO Deputy CEO for quality and product development Mir Javad Soleymani.

This engine is to be produced based on a contract between IKCO and the Petroleum Ministry, he said, adding that the final product would be the first passenger car with a diesel engine produced in Iran. Besides meeting the Euro IV emission standard requirements, this engine is capable of achieving Euro V standard as well, he said.

According to the IKCO Deputy CEO, engine specifications include 1500cc of capacity, 90kw of power and 250 Nm of torque. "Outfitted with diesel engine Samand fuel economy would be 5 to 5.2 liters in combined cycle per 100 km," the company official continued.

Soleymani referred to the CNG-based EF-7 engine as the base for designing national diesel engine and asserted, "Required changes in production lines have taken place so that both engine types can be assembled in the same line."

More than 70% of the passenger car's diesel engine project was fulfilled by Iranian experts. The main engine block parts, including the cylinder block, cylinder head, crankshaft and connecting rods, are produced domestically and the high-tech fuel system is outsourced, considering that there are only two suppliers for diesel fuel system in the world.

The transmission system of diesel engine for passenger cars with Iranian ownership known as the EFD project was launched in July 2008 with the support of the National Iranian Oil Products Distribution Company (NIOPDC) in IPCO. The engine has been designed based on the EF7 CNG-based engine.

Diesel cars used to be supplied in Iran's market before 1973; however the supply of these cars was banned then. Due to previous legal restrictions in supplying diesel engines and the lack of appropriate diesel fuel in Iran, currently there are no diesel passenger cars in the Iranian market.

But considering the gas rationing scheme in Iran in recent years on one hand, and significant progress in diesel engine technology and also the Iranian government's support on the other hand, the tendency to present diesel-sipping cars has increased among car makers and car importers in the country.

Technically, all the existing cars in the C and D segment of the market can be supplied with diesel engines as well. - Fars