In 2017 Punch Powertrain builds its second foreign plant for delivery to the local market.
The inauguration event – on February 7th in Zanjan – enjoyed massive interest from the automotive industry as well as national and international press.
Production for local market
With over 80 million citizens, Iran is a very large market where heavy traffic congestions create a need for automatic transmissions. Shortly Punch Powertrain will start supplying gearboxes from its Chinese branch to the car manufacturer Saipa. The construction of the Iranian factory, which should be operational next year, would localize the supply.
New factory
To meet the high demand, Punch Powertrain is building a factory in the northern province of Zanjan. With an investment of 15 to 20 million, the plant will start with one production line. Here 100 employees will produce 50,000 to 70,000 gearboxes per year. Similar to the Chinese plant, the most important and most valuable components will be supplied from Sint-Truiden, to be assembled locally with additional local components.
Building with growth prospects
In analogy with the Chinese market, where the share of automatic gearboxes increased rapidly from 5 to 30 percent, CEO Cor van Otterloo also expects strong growth in Iran. In three years’ time, a growth towards production of 300,000 to 400,000 gearboxes a year is expected. This was the total capacity of the entire Punch Powertrain organization a few years ago.
