Now the battle for Iran starts, which brands will succeed in the recently reopened country.

Carmakers are racing for Iran following the country's breakthrough nuclear deal with Western powers - pitting past market leader PSA/Peugeot-Citroen against challengers including Volkswagen Group and Renault.

Tehran has agreed to curb its nuclear program in return for an end to sanctions, although the deal still faces hurdles including a skeptical U.S. Congress amid frantic Israeli lobbying for its rejection.

But auto manufacturers, which stand to be among the early beneficiaries, have been positioning themselves with varying degrees of discretion since late 2013, when the latest talks were launched and a limited number of sanctions suspended.

Within hours of the announcement of a final deal, PSA had outlined plans for new Iranian production to reclaim and defend the leading market position it held before sanctions were tightened four years ago.

Volkswagen said on Thursday that it is monitoring the situation and “further steps will be determined by future developments.”

The accord drew no immediate reaction from PSA’s domestic rival Renault, but insiders say almost all of the industry's big names are active behind the scenes.

"Industry leaders are itching to get into Iran," said Thomas Wuelfing, chairman of Germela, a Hamburg-based consulting firm specialized in Middle East trade. As far as the auto industry is concerned, he said, "it's the last big emerging market."

Iranian car registrations approached 1.6 million cars at their 2011 peak before collapsing under the weight of sanctions. Domestic production fell by 1 million vehicles over the next two years, destroying more than 100,000 jobs.

In the partial thaw since 2013, sales have recovered to an expected 1.2 million this year, according to IHS Automotive. An end to sanctions would see the market bounce back to 1.6 million in 2016, the forecaster predicts - and many in the industry see potential for a further expansion to 2 million.

Chinese competition

Returning European carmakers now face a stiffer challenge from Chinese rivals such as Chery and Lifar, whose cut-price cars have gained ground under sanctions, said Michel Jacinto, an analyst with the firm.

But higher-quality brands should win back market share in a rising post-sanctions economy, he said, with Japanese carmakers also well placed to benefit.

"For Peugeot and VW, success in Iran is very important," Jacinto added. "It's the gateway to the wider Middle East."

Volkswagen, which previously built the Gol compact with Iranian partner Kerman Khodro, is in "early deliberations" over an offensive by its budget Skoda and Seat brands once the market reopens, a mid-level manager within the group, said.

"Old ties in the region give the French a certain edge," he said. "But we also see the potential of this lucrative market."

General Motors and Ford may have to wait longer to navigate a deeper layer of American sanctions that will continue to bar Americans and their banks from Iran trade. GM declined to comment on Tuesday's deal.

PSA now enjoys a head start despite its 2012 decision to stop supporting Iranian re-assembly of outdated European-made models under pressure from GM, then a shareholder.

Manufacturing partner Iran Khodro, the country's biggest carmaker, instead began sourcing parts for the Peugeot 405 sedan and 206 subcompact from intermediaries - effectively restoring the brand's near-30 percent market share.

Iranian registrations of "unauthorized" PSA cars are currently running at about 350,000 annually, according to the French carmaker, which does not book the sales in its accounts.

To maintain that foothold as the market opens, PSA plans to invest in full Iranian production of new models using its latest architectures and engines, for domestic sales as well as export. Talks underway with potential partners are "most advanced" with Iran Khodro, the company told Reuters.

Renault, a smaller player in Iran with a 5.9 percent market share before sanctions were tightened, is also looking at more competitive successors to its first-generation Logan sedan model, still sold there as the Tondar.

"Iran is a market where we have ambitions, but we're not the only ones," Renault sales chief Jerome Stoll said last week. "We will need to come up with a response to real consumer demand, rather than a backward-looking response to demand that has been captive for years."

German ambitions

Germela, the trade consulting firm, is mobilizing its German carmaking clients with the help of a newly opened Tehran office.

Executives from Iran Khodro and second-ranked SAIPA will be on a 30-strong Iranian automotive delegation attending a September "matchmaking" seminar near Frankfurt with counterparts from across the German industry. The itinerary includes a visit to a Mercedes-Benz plant.

"The French don't sit around - they are always first when it comes to connecting commercial and political interests," Germela's Wuelfing said. "German carmakers would be well advised to hit the road."

Automotive News

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Jaguar Land Rover new plant in China, More details on interior set up.

Marking the commencement of production of the first ever Sino-British premium automotive joint venture, Chery Jaguar Land Rover officially opened its plant in Changshu, Jiangsu Province last month as it formally moved into full business operation.

The 50-50 joint venture between Chery and Jaguar Land Rover bore fruits two years after it took roots. At an investment of 10.9 billion yuan (US$1.77 billion), after 5 million man hours on construction and equipment installation, with almost 250,000 meters of piling and over 25,000 tons of steel, the plant has been established as one of the world's most advanced and efficient automobile manufacturing facilities, and the first full-scale manufacturing facility of Jaguar Land Rover outside the UK.

The factory covers a total space of 811,300 square meters and the buildings occupy 376,000 square meters or equivalent to 52 Wembley football pitches or 6 "Bird Nest" Stadiums. The plant is capable of producing 130,000 vehicles annually at its initial stage.

The plant inauguration came along with the official roll-off of the locally produced Range Rover Evoque. As the first member of the joint venture's product family, this popular premium SUV model is expected to hit the market early next year. By 2016, the plant will be producing three Jaguar Land Rover models.

"The plant opening marks the completion of our start-up phase of which we are incredibly proud, and now we will continue to build with the same passion and pride, to realize our goal to be the premium automotive manufacturer inspiring excellence in China's automotive industry," said Chris Bryant, President of Chery Jaguar Land Rover.

Equipped with state-of-the-art press, body, paint, trim and final workshops, a quality center and an engine plant, Chery Jaguar Land Rover aims to set a new benchmark of production efficiency and quality.

Two top-notch press lines, one as the fastest press line in the world, and the other as the fastest mechanical press line in China, enable the press shop to process both steel and aluminum materials at world-class rates. Boasting an automation rate of up to 85 percent, the body shop has 306 robots in place to undertake welding work to pursue higher quality and more stable automobile bodies. At the paint shop, an advanced dry Scrubber Spray system helps to recycle 95 percent of air, enabling 60 percent energy savings of the Spray Booth. And a sophisticated decking system applied in trim and final shop with a fully automatic marriage process includes the application of a dynamic strut movement and locating system, which is firstly created in China.

The plant's quality center put in use industry-leading three-coordinate chamber, Hydro-Pulse and environmental chamber, and world-class air tightness standards. Over the past two years, the company has been helping local suppliers develop their capabilities to meet its global quality standards. And it sent key workers from Changshu to UK for comprehensive training to make sure they fully understand the system and process required to deliver world-class quality products.

The quality of the products must be as good as that of those imported from the UK, the company said, which aims to take a steady pace to increase its manufacturing localization rate.

The company's research and development center, with over 290 experienced engineers already on board, are working closely with Jaguar Land Rover's team in UK to optimize product development, from product planning, project management, process, system and engineering applications, trial production, testing for finished vehicles, product localization design, improvement of emission and engine performance to new energy development.

"With the continuous support from our parent companies, the local government, our suppliers, dealers and all other business partners, we will continue to offer excellent world-class quality products and services to Chinese customers, enabling them to enjoy the unique premium automotive brand experience that they most desire," said Zhu Guohua, Deputy President of Chery Jaguar Land Rover.

QOROS out to challenge the best with a big push into Europe.

Chinese automaker Qoros Auto Co. is out to challenge Volkswagen Group, PSA/Peugeot-Citroen and other Europeans on their home turf, signaling a broader push by the country's car manufacturers to target Western customers.

Qoros, a joint venture between China's Chery Automobile Co. and Tel Aviv-based holding company Israel Corp., presented the 3 compact hatchback at the Geneva auto show this week, a year after creating buzz at the show with a sedan version of the car, its first model ever.

The hatchback will compete directly with the VW Golf, while the sedan takes on the VW Jetta. The models are part of a broader rollout that will include a crossover later this year as Qoros widens its lineup to at least five vehicles.

The expansion, which follows Chinese automaker Great Wall Motor Co.'s entry into Bulgaria, is the biggest effort yet by one of the country's carmakers to crack Western markets.

"We have the big advantage that we're starting from scratch, from zero," said Stefano Villanti, head of sales and product strategy. "We have no legacy, no baggage. We have the luxury of looking at the car world with a fresh eye."

VW, Europe's biggest automaker, and other Western carmakers in recent decades helped develop China's auto industry by teaming up with local manufacturers, a move required by the government to produce in the world's largest auto market.

Those Chinese companies are now increasingly eager to expand abroad. Dongfeng Motor Corp. agreed last month to buy a 14 percent stake in PSA, Europe's second-largest carmaker, to gain technology to develop its own brands.

Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co. bought Sweden's Volvo Car Corp. in 2010 and Manganese Bronze, the maker of London's iconic black taxis, in 2013.

European design

"We will eventually see more Chinese brands coming into Europe," said Tim Urquhart, an analyst with IHS Automotive in London. "It won't be an overnight flood. It's going to be a very slow and gradual process."

Qoros will begin its European push in Slovakia, with most of the brand's sales probably still coming initially from China. Global deliveries are forecast to increase to 188,200 vehicles by 2020 from about 34,000 this year, IHS estimates.

The 3 hatchback that debuted this week in Geneva is 90mm (3.5 inches) longer than the Golf and, with 156 hp, boasts almost twice the power of the VW model's base version.

Qoros' 3 sedan, which started deliveries in Slovakia earlier this year, costs 20,960 euros ($28,790). While the Golf starts at 17,175 euros, a car with similar power costs 27,250 euros. The hatchback's price hasn't been released yet.

VW attention

"Qoros is shooting into a segment which is the toughest and most fiercely contested segment at the moment," said Thomas Schiller, a Munich-based partner with Deloitte. "Qoros's approach is very ambitious. They'll need a lot of staying power."

The 3 sedan drew the attention of VW CEO Martin Winterkorn at Geneva last year. He made the car one of his stops on a tour of the show floor, reviewing the interior and checking gaps between body panels.

VW said it doesn't comment on competitors, when asked about Qoros. The 3 hatchback features an 8-inch touchscreen and a cloud-connected platform that enables the customer to access social networks and book service appointments.

"Our connectivity is something where we are unique," Volker Steinwascher, deputy CEO, said in an interview in Geneva. "Young customers don't want to lose their mobile-phone connection."

Qoros, founded in 2007, produces its cars at the company's plant in Changshu, about 100km (62 miles) northwest of Shanghai. The facility has initial capacity to produce 150,000 vehicles annually and can expand to 350,000 if needed.

Munich design

Israel Corp., which also owns stakes in the chemicals, energy and shipping industries, got involved as part of its goal of investing in companies in emerging markets with high-growth potential.

Qoros, which has a design center in Munich and engineering facilities in Graz, Austria, is tapping European expertise, including hiring former executives from VW and BMW Group, to woo the region's buyers.

Qoros's vehicles were created under Gert Hildebrand, a former BMW designer who oversaw Mini's resurgence. The underpinnings were made in close cooperation with Magna International's Magna Steyr unit, which assembles cars for Mini and Daimler's Mercedes-Benz.

"We developed the car together with Qoros to be absolutely the benchmark," said Karl-Friedrich Stracke, responsible for vehicle technology and engineering at Magna Steyr. "They have a very good chance to get this done."

5-star rating

The Qoros sedan was awarded a five-star score in EuroNCAP safety testing, after getting the best results of all vehicles tested by the government-sponsored agency in 2013.

The brand is seeking a foothold in Europe by targeting Slovakia because the country has no domestic nameplate with which to compete. With 324 cars per 1,000 inhabitants, the country has the fourth-lowest vehicle density in the European Union.

That gives the Chinese brand potential to carve out a niche as the market catches up to neighbors. A wider expansion in the region is still two to three years away, Villanti said.

"It's very sensible that they are not aiming for a broad rollout in Europe, which would burn all their money," said Ferdinand Dudenhoeffer, director of the Center for Automotive Research at the University of Duisburg-Essen. "They are taking a cautious approach and gaining experience in Slovakia."

The brand's push comes as the Europe starts a gradual recovery. A six-year contraction, stemming from the sovereign-debt crisis, forced the region's nameplates to close plants and cut spending as demand dropped to a two-decade low.

Interesting adventure

Even with growth now in the cards, competition remains intense. Stephen Odell, Europe chief at Ford Motor Co., whose Focus compact will compete with the Qoros, said in Geneva that he saw no signs of pricing pressure easing.

Qoros also faces reinvigorated rivals. Peugeot won the 2014 European Car of the Year award with its 308 hatchback, which is in the same segment as the 3 hatchback.

"I find this business case and adventure very interesting," Peugeot brand CEO Maxime Picat said of Qoros during an interview in Geneva. "It can become a nice success story or, on the contrary, it could fail, being considered as a Chinese carmaker in Europe."

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TMW - QOROS, a New brand for a new era.

Oldsmobile, Pontiac, Saab, Rover, and more, all once huge brands that took the world by storm, each gave its own special mark on the motoring world, each had sales in the millions, had factories/workers around the globe, and millions of workers over the years, yet what these and more have in common is they are no longer around, all either closed by parent companies or bankrupt, and with it, the loss of great companies, workers and some stunning cars.

Since 2008 the world has been in free fall, mass redundancies, closures, cut backs and pay freezes, the world over, nowhere has been exempt from the financial meltdown that occurred 6 years ago, so I ask, why launch a brand new car company now, as nearly all manufacturers are cutting back, and saving money, but then i think why not, maybe it is a genius stroke, wait until the worst is over and then slowly but surely ease your way in, as people were wary of spending large sums, the purse strings are now starting to loosen, and with it the chance to try something new.

But it is still a massive gamble, Lexus has still to make a profit, Infiniti is draining profits from parent company Nissan, Mazda dumped its sister brand Xedos some years ago, Smart has not been a success for Daimler, so what can QOROS bring to the table that all these others have not, well, not much, the first model launched for sale the QOROS 3 Sedan is a decent first attempt, along with the hatch and wagon to come, the hatch is being launched at Geneva shortly, and NCAP awarded the car its highest possible recognition as "best in class 2013", you cant get better than that.

QOROS 3 Sedan

But is it enough, not bad looks, great Safety, interiors that look the part, decent power-trains and the back up of one of China's biggest automotive car makers (Chery) and, a somewhat weird partner in Israel Corporation, an Israeli government part owned private corporation that has, at first glance NO commercial interest in any automotive building process, either now or in the past, so apart from money what can they offer, well, they offer an easy access to that part of the world when QOROS goes global, and little else at this point, unless i can be shown an alternative.

QOROS 3 Interior

Chery on the other hand was introduced to the world in 1997 by the Chinese Government and is still state owned, a number of their products, like other Chinese Auto-makers have benefited from "looking" very similar to other brands cars, one such, being the Chery QQ, which GM had issue with, as it was nearly identical to its own Chevy Matiz, but time has moved on, Chery has now a number of partnerships, most notably Jaguar Land Rover, which is due to come on stream shortly, and the push for QOROS carries on.

QOROS 3

At the outset, when the company was set up in 2007, the work started and only 4 years later, October 2011, the first prototype was produced, not bad for a ground up corporation, and two months later, first official images were issued, it was from here that the work really begun, because once you release the images, you then have something that's available for people to query and question, so it was no surprise that in March 2013, at the 83rd Geneva Motor Show, the first production based car was on display, The QOROS 3 Sedan, but it did not stop there, they also had the "3" Estate Concept and "3" Cross hybrid Concept all on display too.

QOROS 3 Cross Hybrid Concept

QOROS, are not playing, they are deadly serious, they have the talent, they have selected some of the best talent around, starting with Gert Hilderbrand, head of design, who had a glowing career at BMW and MINI as well as Mitusbishi Design Europe, head designer at SEAT, and also major wok on the Golf MK3, amongst many other very talents key personnel there is Klaus Schmidt, the former chief engineer of vehicle performance at BMW, the former chief engineer at Jaguar Land Rover, Peter Matkin and Roger Malkusson, a former chief engineer at SAAB, so you can clearly see they have the talent, all they need is the product.

QOROS Flagship Concept

The designs and specs were signed off and the QOROS 3 Sedan made production with the first car being sold to the general public in China at the back end of last year, not bad considering at the start of 2007 the company did not exist, so with the hard work done, where to next, well, that's obvious, carry on building and selling in China, pushing the brand with great marketing and pricing, and once the Chinese market has been satisfied, the push into other Asian markets and onto Europe, with its great safety reputation the European market will be more willing to accept this Chinese car in a way they have avoided the MG brand that has failed to achieve anything near poor sales, let alone good.

Can the brand be sold in the US, for now, I don't think so, the US market is very fickle, and the opinionated buyer will assume that the QOROS brand will be like other brands, with less than good records of safety and reliability, but they will be wrong, for first look, the QOROS brand seems to be well sorted, and it can be ring fenced from the Chinese reputation, but that will be hard, because at the end of the day, it will either be known as the Chinese brand or the Israeli brand, neither of which will go down well in the good ole US of A, so to get to Europe first and get a reputation for good quality, reasonable priced cars, that offer a little more than the norm is how they should be advertised, once Europe has been conquered, if that's the right word, then who knows, the world.

When the brand comes to the UK, and no date or confirmation has been made, but there is a QOROS UK company already set up, it will be a welcome breath of fresh air to shake up a stodgy market, I for one cant wait to see the QOROS brand here, and the sooner the better.

JON MOWER