Hyundai Motor says wins $227 mln Iran car order

SEOUL, Sept 3 (Reuters) Hyundai Motor Co., South Korea's top auto maker, said on Sunday it had won an order from Iran worth about 7 million to supply completed vehicles.

The world's sixth-largest automobile group, along with its affiliate Kia Motors Corp., has been tapping into the Iranian market after the country eased import restrictions.

A Hyundai spokesman said the company would ship 13,450 vehicles to Iranian government agencies and taxi operators. The models would include its Grandeur and Sonata sedans and Trajet sports utility vehicles.

It shipped the first tranche of 1,050 units last week.

Hyundai, which runs a plant in Iran that re-assembles car parts into completed models, expects to rack up another 8,500-unit order from the country in 2007.

Brisk exports helped lift the car maker's August sales by 24.6 percent over a year earlier.

REUTERS DKS KN1608