Iran grinds Renault joint-venture to a halt
Iran is putting a crimp in Renault's plans. The French automaker had teamed up with the nation as part of a joint-venture to build the bare-bones Logan (L90), but now finds itself in a bind as authorities in Tehran have nixed the plan, apparently over a disagreement over the export futures of the car.
Renault has pledged to work with the Iranian government to resolve the problems, as some $800-million worth of contracts with local firms hang in the balance, but the future of the vehicle and the jobs involved in its creation are unclear.
In a time where Iran is under increasing pressure from the rest of the world to come clean about its nuclear efforts, this development threatens to further harm the controversial country's standing in global commerce circles.
[Sources: Motoring.co.za; Renault]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Marcello Mastroianni 11:27AM (4/21/2006)
It's all clear now! Iran wants to be the first nation to produce nuclear-powered cars. Sneaky!
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Matt 12:35PM (4/21/2006)
Buy E85. Once Iran can no longer suckle the teet of our oil addiction, they'll get a lot more hungry, and a lot less moronic about such things.
No more welfare for the middle east.
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Paul 12:43PM (4/21/2006)
Hey Matt
dont be xenopobic about the iranians. they are just trying to be like americans.
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Chris 12:51PM (4/21/2006)
Thats what you get when you do business with Iran. Maybe the French will learn something from this, or from when they did business with Saddam, or when they did business with N. Korea, or when.....
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Marcello Mastroianni 12:55PM (4/21/2006)
> Thats what you get when you do business with Iran.
> Maybe the French will learn something from this, or
> from when they did business with Saddam,
> or when they did business with N. Korea, or when.....
America did plenty of business with Saddam, and a slew of other despotic tyrants. Wherever there's money, the greedy will follow, and our country is (unfortunately) no exception.
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Mike 1:05PM (4/21/2006)
Or could it be that even the Iraninas are sharp enough to spot a crappy product....
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Whydrive 1:53PM (4/21/2006)
Yes Iran does not want to do business with dillusional people that think the Holocaust really happened.
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Justin 1:56PM (4/21/2006)
I thought anyone doing business with Iran was banned for doing business in the US. Why are we letting Renault/Nissan get away with this.
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iQuack 2:41PM (4/21/2006)
The problem was that Iranians insisted on airbags what would not deploy to protect infidels.
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Mike 2:49PM (4/21/2006)
Or maybe it was the lack of a Turbin version....
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Brian 3:24PM (4/21/2006)
Justin - We have a unilateral trade embargo against Iran. We have no control over French trade policy, nor should we. After all it was our government that created the mullahs in Iran by backing the corrupt government of the out-of-touch Shaw.
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Matt 4:46PM (4/21/2006)
#3 Paul,
I'm not xenophobic. I'm moronophobic. The guy who made the turbin comment; he's xenophobic.
You should get them straight. Being moronophobic is perfectly ok.
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Chris 9:13PM (4/21/2006)
Marcello Mastroianni
Yes they did business with Saddam and others because he was the lesser of two evils when Iraq was at war with Iran. Not that it is right but that is why we did business with him. The difference is that the Iranian prez keeps calling for the destruction of Israel while pushing forward on its nukes while the rest of the world asks them to stop. Thats the French factor that pisses me off. Then they whine about how Iran is unreasonable, ha! No kidding, Iran unreasonable, never would have guessed.
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