The late Hadi Akbari Rad, founder of Oghab Afshan Company, is regarded as a great figure in Iran's bus manufacturing industry.
In addition to his education at a young age, he enthusiastically worked as an apprentice in a carpentry workshop during his free time, starting at the age of 8. After a year, he continued his work in a bus body-building workshop and eventually established his own body-building workshop in Tehran's Sepah Street at the age of 20. He managed to obtain the first bus body-building license in Iran, and after enduring a difficult period in production, in the 1950s, along with a group of industrialists, he unveiled the first bus manufactured in Iran at a ceremony in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in the presence of the then Prime Minister and a number of military and state officials. He received praise from the attendees and was awarded a first-class industry medal by the Prime Minister.
After years of dedicated service to the transportation industry, he passed away in February 2024 in Tehran.
May his soul rest in peace and his memory be cherished.
Thus, the history of bus manufacturing in Iran began with the production of various city buses and coaches. Some of the products from this industrial group are still in operation in Iran's transportation fleet after 40 years.
Oghab Afshan Company was registered in 1998 as a family business. It is the largest manufacturer of city buses and coaches in the private sector of our country. With a 70-year history in bus production, it has played a significant role in the modernization and development of the national public transportation fleet. Notably, in 2007 and 2008, Oghab Afshan became the largest commercial partner of Scania and currently has the best after-sales service centers for Scania products in Iran, with 20 workshops.
The company presently manufactures its products in various models as urban and intercity buses and minibuses. To meet diverse customer needs, one of its main policies is to expand its product portfolio. In this regard, several years ago, the Parsan Electric Bus Production Company was established as a joint venture with the MAPNA Group, producing the first electric bus in the Middle East.
The main factory of the company is located at kilometer 7 on the Semnan-Damghan Road, on the northern side of the East Semnan Industrial Estate, covering an area of 500,000 square meters with halls of 75,000 square meters. The subsidiaries of the Oghab Afshan Automotive Industries Group produce and supply various products and services such as automotive electronic parts, fleet management systems, cooling and heating systems, seats, cable harnesses, and multiplex systems.
One of Oghab Afshan's most significant achievements in this industry is the acquisition and localization of knowledge for designing and manufacturing bus and minibus bodies in accordance with global standards. Such an achievement could not have been possible without careful planning and a deep understanding of the automotive industry and its capacities. The company has obtained current EU standards for its products and, based on this, has exported its buses to countries such as Ethiopia, Ghana, Kazakhstan, Egypt, Syria, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, and Turkmenistan, as well as entering into contracts with European countries like Ukraine.