Tara; Iran Khodro's first serious attempt to distance itself from the 405 generation

For years, Iran's automobile industry has been running on platforms whose roots go back decades. Cars that returned to the market every time with new lights, bumpers and dashboards. Tara, but it was going to change the story a bit. This time, Iran Khodro went for a newer architecture and introduced a product that was supposed to be more distant from the old 405 family. Tara is still far from all the standards of a modern car

According to the reporter of Safir Arjan's automobile department, for years, if someone wanted to prepare a list of Iran Khodro's main cars, names such as Pikan, Peugeot 405, Samand, Peugeot Pars and Dena were seen in it. The common denominator of many of these cars was one thing; An important part of their technical roots goes back to projects that were formed years ago. Even when the appearance of the car changed, the same old architecture was still present under its skin. This method was economically understandable for the car manufacturer, but it had a fundamental problem; The automobile industry could not forever present itself as a forward-looking industry by changing the lights and bumpers.

Tara becomes important from this point. Iran Khodro used the Peugeot 301 platform to develop this car; The platform that became one of the foundations of Iran Khodro's new product development after the foreign cooperation was limited and Peugeot withdrew from projects related to Iran. Here is an important point; Tara cannot be considered a completely zero-kilometer car without any foreign roots, but compared to products like Pars and 405, its engineering gap with the old generation is much greater. This issue made Tara to have a different importance for Iran Khodro from the very beginning.

When the first images of the Tara were released, reactions to the car's design were mixed. Some people considered its appearance to be more modern than Iran Khodro's older products, and some believed that the design of the car is still conservative in some parts. But to be fair, Tara's main issue wasn't just the shape of the lights and body lines. A more important thing had happened under this shell; Iran Khodro was trying to develop a product on a more modern architecture that could be a basis for newer technologies.

Tara was released in manual and automatic versions, and over time, changes were made in its equipment and specifications. TU5P engine was the main heart of this car; An upgraded version of the TU5 engine family, which was used for many years in various Peugeot and Iran Khodro products. The naturally aspirated 1.6-liter engine in the Tara wasn't intended to break acceleration or power records, but its primary goal was to provide an acceptable combination of fuel economy, maintenance costs, and everyday performance.

Compared to the older engines of the XU7 family, the TU5P is better in terms of technology and engine management, which helps the Tara to have better conditions in terms of consumption and engine response. Of course, one should not expect a modern turbocharged engine from it. The Tara is ultimately a family sedan with a naturally aspirated 1.6-liter engine, and its philosophy is more about everyday use and manageable cost of ownership than exciting performance.

The automatic version of Tara was also very important for the Iranian market. The six-speed automatic transmission of this car was a serious step forward compared to the old four-speed transmissions that were seen in domestic products for years. The presence of more coefficients allows the car to choose a better gear ratio in different conditions and to have a more reasonable engine speed at high speeds.

But a car is not just an engine and a gearbox. One area where Tara tried to break away from old products was safety equipment. The use of systems such as electronic stability control, traction control and more safety equipment made the car a step ahead in terms of safety standards compared to many older domestic products. Of course, the amount and quality of equipment in different versions can be different and the real safety evaluation of a car is not done only with the list of equipment, but the direction of Tara's movement was important in this regard.

In fact, Tara entered the market at a time when the Iranian customer no longer only looked at air conditioners, electric windows and central locking. The market had changed. Chinese cars had entered the market with large screens, cameras, driving assistance systems and numerous equipment, and the domestic customer expected more from a zero kilometer car; Therefore, if Iran Khodro wanted to keep a significant share of the market, it should go for a product that can compete with the new generation in terms of equipment and technology.

Tara also tried to follow the same path in terms of interior design. The dashboard and central console were more modern than Pars and 405, and the design of the cabin moved away from the completely old atmosphere of the previous products. Of course, the material quality was still one of the debatable points of the car. A more modern design finds real value when the assembly quality, the materials used, and the durability of the parts are at the right level; An issue that is still one of the main weaknesses in many domestic cars.

This is where Tara's story gets complicated. Khodro has progressed in terms of architecture and development path compared to Iran Khodro's old products, but still it cannot be said that all the historical problems of Iran's automobile industry have been solved with its birth. Assembly quality, cabin sounds, coordination of some parts, quality of materials and performance of some equipment are still issues that are discussed among owners and experts.

On the other hand, the market gave Tara a chance to prove herself. Its price was lower compared to many imported cars and even some assembled products, and this made a significant part of customers who were looking for a domestic car with zero kilometers to put Tara in their list of choices. The presence of a manual version also made the car able to attract customers who care about the lower cost of purchase and maintenance, while the automatic version was designed for those who prefer more comfortable urban use.

But if we were to compare Tara only with domestic cars, we might be overestimating it. When we compare the car with the world's current products, the gap is still very clear. The 1.6 liter naturally aspirated engine, interior design, equipment level, material quality and even some engineering details are still far from many new Asian and European cars.

However, the main issue is not whether Tara can compete with a similarly priced European or Japanese product in the world market today. The issue is, has Iran's automobile industry made progress compared to the previous path? The answer to this question is largely positive.

Tara showed that it is possible to use a newer platform to build an in-house product and develop a car with a different architecture. This issue is very important from an industrial point of view. The experience of developing such a product can be used in subsequent projects and increase the knowledge of engineering, part-making and production.

Of course, there is the usual danger of Iran's auto industry here; That a new project itself becomes a product that lasts longer. If Tara is going to remain on the production line for 15 or 20 years with changing lights and bumpers and dashboard, the whole philosophy of its development will be questioned. A new platform should be the starting point, not the end point.

For real progress, the automotive industry must be able to build the next project from each project. That is, Tara should lead to the next generation, newer engines should come out of the TU5P experience, new gearboxes should be developed, and the next platforms should be able to reduce the distance between Iran and the world industry. If such a chain is not formed, even the best internal project will become after a few years what we criticize today about old products.

In this sense, Tara should be seen more as a "test" than the end of the road. A test of whether Iran Khodro has really been able to move away from the old model of product production or just developed a new product on a purchased or existing platform.

Time will tell the answer to this question, but so far, Tara has an important difference with Pars and 405. Iran Khodro has not just sent an old product with a new design to the market. An important part of the car's architecture, electronic systems, safety equipment and its development process belongs to a newer generation, and this makes it possible to consider Tara as a step forward.

Of course, this step is still short. In order to reach the real level of global competition, Iran's automobile industry needs several generations of new products, continuous investment, technological cooperation, engine and gearbox development, and most importantly, management stability. One project cannot be expected to make up for decades of technological backwardness.

Tara, however, has an important message; That even in difficult conditions, it is possible to make a different product out of the limitations. Maybe this car is not the best sedan in the Iranian market, maybe its design doesn't satisfy everyone and maybe the quality of some parts still needs work, but it shows a different path compared to the cars that were produced for years with the same old architecture.

Today, Tara has the same role for a part of the market as Samand once had for Iran Khodro; A product that is supposed to show that the company has the ability to develop cars. The important difference is that Samand was eventually formed on a platform rooted in 405, but Tara tried to distance herself from that generation.

Of course, this distance is still not enough to talk about a revolution. But in an industry where for years the change of headlights and bumpers was replaced by the change of generation, this move is also worth considering.

Tara may not yet be a car that can overcome all its problems in the Iranian auto industry, but it can be a sign of a change in direction; The path that, if continued, may one day lead Iran Khodro to a place where a domestic product can compete with real competitors not only in the Iranian market, but also in foreign markets.

The problem is that such a path does not end with a car. Tara must give way to a better car, that car must give way to the next generation and the same cycle must continue. If that happens, maybe years from now when we look at the Tara, we'll see it not as a typical domestic car, but as the point where Iran Khodro finally decided to break away from the past.

Tara is still not a perfect product and is far from the standards of the world, but its importance may be exactly that, which shows that there is another path. The path that passes through Pikan, 405 and Pars and is supposed to reach newer platforms and cars.

If this path continues, Tara can be one of the most important cars in the modern history of Iran Khodro; Not because it is the best car that this company has made, but because it is perhaps one of the first serious signs of trying to build the next generation of Iran's automobile industry.