To understand the twists and
turns of doing business in Iran,
look no further
than the Peugeot 405.
This boxy, mid-sized
car is everywhere in Iran.
But it’s had a bumpy ride.
That’s because doing business
there can be unpredictable.
Peugeot’s a French company
that’s been making cars
for over 100 years.
“Because you don’t
get to be
the second-oldest
carmaker in the world
by making second-rate cars.”
But it didn’t start in Iran
until the 1990s.
In Tehran it partnered
with Iran Khodro,
an automaker that’s partly
owned by the Iranian government.
It was a huge success.
By the beginning of 2012,
Peugeot was all in on Iran.
It had 30 percent of the
automobile market
and Iran was a major source
of revenue for Peugeot,
second only to France.
And among Iran’s middle class,
owning a Peugeot
meant that you had made it.
But all that changed when
the U.S., European Union
and United Nations imposed
tough sanctions
to make Iran curb
its nuclear program.
International companies
were blocked
from working in Iran,
and Peugeot was forced out.
“Our company was also
a victim of the sanctions.”
Seeing an opening,
Chinese car makers leapt
to take Peugeot’s place.
And back home in France,
Peugeot is in decline,
partly because it lost access
to the Iranian market.
By 2014, the company
was slashing jobs
and scrambling
for new financing.
Then this happened.
“Breaking overnight,
a historic deal.”
“We have a real opportunity
to achieve
a comprehensive
peaceful settlement.”
Iran signed a historic
nuclear deal in 2015.
As long as the country
met stringent restrictions
on its nuclear program,
foreign investment
could restart.
It was a big opportunity
for Peugeot
and the company quickly
moved to take advantage.
In 2016, Peugeot began
investing hundreds of millions
of dollars as part of a renewed
partnership with Iran Khodro.
“It is a real comeback
of PSA in Iran.”
And business was
booming once again.
These new deals helped double
sales in the region that year.
But then —
“We will be instituting
the highest level
of economic sanction.”
Now that the U.S. is pulling
out of the nuclear deal,
Peugeot may be going back
to where it started.
This country, which has been
tied to so many of
the company's ups and downs, 
might be off limits again.
It’s a cautionary
tale for investors
looking to cash in on Iran.
