Iran Khodro (IKCO), Iran's largest automaker, has decided to phase out the 1987 Peugeot 405 sedan. In Europe, this model has long been forgotten, since in its homeland - in France - it was discontinued in 1997, but in Iran the 405th stretched right up to 2020.
According to the media of the Islamic Republic, since the beginning of June, IKCO is no longer accepting new orders for the 405th, but is still fulfilling previously concluded contracts. In particular, a number of such sedans will be released for national taxi services. The last copy of the 405 should be assembled in the middle of this month.
IKCO decided to abandon the Peugeot 405 due to the non-compliance of its engine with Euro-5 environmental requirements.
The transition to the Euro-5 standard in Iran was announced in 2019. Initially, they wanted to introduce it in 2020, but automakers asked for a delay - and the government decided to postpone the introduction of the standard until 2021. The fact that a backward pariah country seeks to tighten environmental requirements for exhaust is generally surprising. By the way, Euro-5 is also operating in Russia now (although we introduced it back in 2016).
The main Iranian 405 was a 1.8-liter PSA XU7 gasoline engine (100 hp), although some versions were also equipped with a 1.6-liter PSA TU5 (105 hp). Transmission - only 5-speed manual. The model costs on the local market from 631,600,000 local rials (=$15,000).
Two close relatives of the 405 will continue to be produced - the Pars sedan (with a more modern front and rear design), as well as the Arisun semi-frame pickup truck, which the Persians have developed on their own and have been making since 2015. Pars is equipped with a PSA TU5 upgraded to Euro-5, Arisun is equipped with a more modern 1.7-liter IKCO EF-Series gasoline engine, created jointly with the Austrian AVL.
Instead of 405, IKCO will increase the production of Samand, Soren and Dena sedans - they are also built on the basis of the 405, unified with it for the most part of the internal body elements, suspensions and chassis parts, but at the same time they have completely original view panels that form their own exterior. Samand, Soren and Dena are equipped with EF-Series motors.
By the way, in the middle of the 2000s, IKCO planned to supply Peugeot Pars to the Russian market, it was even demonstrated at the 2005 Moscow Motor Show. As a result, the company abandoned the idea, but with relative success it sold its other products with us - Samand and Peugeot 206 Sedan.
Peugeot 405 began to be produced in Iran under license from PSA in 1992.
At one time, the 405 was a landmark car for Europe - it was praised for its excellent handling and overall reliability of the design. The model even won the prestigious European Car of the Year 1988 title.
The total production volume of the Peugeot 405 for 33 years of production is about 5.5 million units.
Iran decides to remove 33-year-old Peugeot from production
