TEHRAN -- The Tondar (thunder), the Iranian-made version of Logan, goes on sale today at a price of 6,750 euros ($8,885), said the French carmaker Renault last week.

The car is made in cooperation with Iran’s major car manufacturers Iran Khodro and SAIPA. This makes Iran the fifth country to build its own version of Logan after Romania, Russia, Morocco and Colombia.

"At the Iran market, half of the cars cost below 8,000 euros. Given the country's lucrative automobile market, the Logan (L90) project in Iran will make a significant contribution to achieving Renault Commitment 2009," the company said on Friday.

Under that plan, Renault will launch 26 new models of its products to boost sales by 800,000 cars per year to 3.3 million by 2009 with an operating profit margin of 6 percent. 80 percent of the sales growth will be achieved outside Europe.

The Logan was first made by Renault's Romanian subsidiary Dacia. The Tondar (thunder in Persian) will be sold under the Renault brand.

Renault already sells its Megane car in Iran. The car is built in Turkey but will be assembled at a rate of 15,000 vehicles per year at Iran Khodro later this year.

Iran will soon emerge as an export base for Renault, the French carmaker said.

(Source: www.just-auto.com)