SAIPA (an acronym for Societe Annonyme Iranienne de Production Automobile) was established in 1966, with 75% Iranian ownership to assemble Citroëns under license for the Iranian market. Nowadays they build mainly Korean cars, but have also developed their own engine and range of cars. The chief executive (president or managing director) of Saipa Corp. is Nematollah Poustindouz. The main subsidiaries of SAIPA Group are Saipa Diesel, Pars Khodro and Zamyad Co. SAIPA signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Malaysia's Proton to jointly develop a new compact sedan to replace the SAIPA Pride.