Iran Khodro Designs New Engine with German Company

Iran Khodro has signed a contract worth 500 billion tomans with the German company Mahle for the design, development, industrialization, and mass production of new engines. Iran Khodro's share in the design of this product is 20%, while the German side holds 80%. The first engine is a 1200 cc model and is expected to move from the design phase to production within 33 months. According to the IRIB news agency, Hashem Yekezareh, CEO of Iran Khodro Industrial Group, stated regarding this contract: "In this joint project, a family of engines will be produced, covering a significant portion of the future productions of Iran Khodro under this brand. This contract includes the design and production of 1200 cc three-cylinder engines, and after the first engine is designed and produced with the help of Mahle, three other engines will be designed and produced under the supervision of this company at Iran Khodro." This engine is set to be designed jointly by the Iran Khodro Engine Research Center and Mahle. The Iran Khodro Engine Research Center had previously designed the first engine developed in Iran in collaboration with the German company FEV. Mostafa Mirsalim, chairman of the board of the Iran Khodro Engine Research Center, commented on the new engine design: "This contract is not the first step to mastering technical knowledge but is based on work that began 10 years ago. We entered into cooperation with Mahle Germany with the aim of reducing the design and production time by 15 months and with an outward-looking perspective, but by registering this new and advanced knowledge in Iran, we can continue the work in the future without relying on others." Fred Turk, CEO of Mahle Germany, explained on the sidelines of the contract signing for the design and production of small engines with Iran Khodro: "We have not come to Iran just to sell engines; we are more focused on development and want to have a growing market. This engine, which is set to be produced at Iran Khodro, is at the cutting edge of global knowledge and leads the world in technology. This engine can be a very positive point for a developing market and will actually provide excellent cooperation and training for Iran Khodro engineers." Currently, one of the mid-term solutions in the global automotive industry for reducing fuel consumption and pollutant gases is the use of small engines. However, small engines depend on very new technologies for fuel injection and compression, which only a few companies in the world possess such knowledge. Some countries have chosen to use hybrid vehicles (electric-gasoline) as a mid-term solution. However, developing hybrid vehicles is much more complex than downsizing engines. According to Iran Khodro, the engines designed and produced under this contract will have a power output of 120 to 160 horsepower and will at least meet Euro 6 emissions standards. The fuel consumption of the first engine, which is a three-cylinder 1200 cc model, is reported to be about 5 liters per 100 kilometers. This engine is equipped with a turbocharger and utilizes advanced direct fuel injection technology. This technology was first used by Mercedes-Benz in super sports cars but was not used in passenger cars for years due to technical complexity until this knowledge was revived with the development of computer science and engine management by Mitsubishi Japan. In this technology, when the vehicle does not need much power, the gasoline-air mixture is made very lean. To prevent engine knock, with very advanced technology, the fuel-air mixture is layered around the spark plug, and as the need for power increases, the gasoline-air mixture becomes denser. Companies using this technology claim that this method can reduce fuel consumption and emissions; however, if fuel and air management is not done correctly, the engine produces nitrogen oxide, which is considered a pollutant gas. According to Iran Khodro, after designing the 1200 cc engine, three other engines with a volume of 1500 cc and various fuels such as gas and gasoline will be designed. Iran Khodro had previously designed a dual-fuel engine (natural gas and gasoline) focusing on gas in collaboration with FEV, but with the change in Iran's fuel strategy during Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's presidency, gasoline was once again prioritized over gas, and this engine was also changed to a gasoline-only model. Some experts consider this shift a strategic mistake, arguing that gas fuel has a relative advantage for Iran and produces less pollution compared to gasoline engines. Following this, the Iran Khodro Engine Research Center designed a diesel engine in collaboration with a German company, but due to problems and the non-standard nature of diesel fuel in Iran and the advanced technology of the engine, it has not been produced. Of the three initial engines designed with FEV, the third engine, which is 1400 cc, has still not been produced after more than ten years. For years, Iran Khodro's products were built with Peugeot engines, even those with national suffixes like Samand. However, since the mid-2000s, with the joint design of engines between Iran Khodro and FEV, this changed. The first vehicle with an Iranian label, named Samand, resulted from the collaboration of Iran Khodro's design section with a British company called First Automotive. First Automotive designed Samand on the chassis of the Peugeot 405 between 1998 and 2000. In this project, the Iran Khodro Research Center was established, and some Iranian engineers participated in this project, which served as a significant internship for them. Most of the design involved body and interior design, with very minor changes made to the vehicle's technical aspects. However, due to the heavier weight, Samand had a different design in the suspension system. But in the vehicle's engine system, no changes occurred compared to the 405, and both vehicles utilized similar engines and gearboxes. After the Samand project, it became clear to Iran Khodro that vehicle design was much more complex than previously thought by Iranian industrial managers. Besides the severe weakness of Iran's parts industry in research and development units, another problem was the lack of technical knowledge in other main vehicle components such as the engine. During those years, Iranian parts manufacturers mostly tried to copy parts through reverse engineering. Some manufacturers, at best, produced certain parts under license from foreign companies. To address the lack of technical knowledge in the field of powertrains, a company named IPCO was established within Iran Khodro for the design and production of engines and engine components. This company was supposed to first acquire design knowledge and then manufacturing knowledge of engine parts to transfer this knowledge to Iranian parts manufacturers. For engine design, some of the most talented graduates from Iran's industrial universities were selected, and a contract was signed between this company and FEV Germany. In this plan, three engines were to be designed: the first engine was a 1700 cc dual-fuel engine named EFV, capable of running on natural gas and gasoline and producing 110 horsepower. The next engine, with a volume of 1700 cc and with the help of a turbocharger, could produce 150 horsepower, and the last engine was a 1400 cc engine with 95 horsepower for small vehicles. By 2005, the design of the first engine was completed, but with the change of government, the project's implementation slowed down. Due to technical complexities, although many parts of the engine were designed by Iranian engineers under the supervision of the German team, Iranian parts manufacturers could not produce the parts, so many parts were sourced from large German companies, and it was agreed that the knowledge of manufacturing and designing these parts would gradually be transferred to Iranian manufacturers. The crisis in Iran-Germany relations during those years made the implementation of the project more difficult; however, engine production began in 2010, and according to reports from the Ministry of Industries, the first series of Iranian consumers were satisfied with the products offered. One of the manufacturers of EFV engine parts is Mahle Germany, which designed and produced many key components of the EF7 engine. In 2011, the implementation of economic sanctions and the severing of relations between Iranian and German companies posed challenges for the production of this engine. The transfer of knowledge for producing many parts to Iranian parts manufacturers had not been completed when cooperation with the German side was cut off, and these companies began production with half-completed knowledge, resulting in engine failures and severe consumer dissatisfaction. Now, one of the concerns regarding the Iran Khodro contract with Mahle is the repetition of the issues faced by the EFV engine. Hashem Yekezareh, CEO of Iran Khodro Industrial Group, stated in this regard: "In the event of any problems or halts in the execution of the design and production contract with Mahle, this German company will be held accountable and will compensate for damages."