MILAN – Stellantis said it will build a range of midsize light commercial and passenger vans at its factory in Bursa, Turkey, starting in 2025.
The factory, which is owned by Tofas, a joint venture of Stellantis and the Turkish holding company Koc, currently builds the second-generation Fiat Doblo compact van and the Fiat Egea/Tipo compact car.
Production of the vans, internally designated K0, will start at the beginning of 2025, Stellantis said in a release Wednesday. The vehicle will be built for five Stellantis brands.
Stellantis’ midsize vans are currently assembled in Hordain, France, with Vauxhall models at Luton, England. Those include the Peugeot Expert/Traveller, Citroen Jumpy/Spacetourer, Opel and Vauxhall Vivaro/Zafira Life, and Fiat Scudo/ Ulysse. The Toyota Proace/Proace Verso is also assembled at Hordain under an agreement.
A Stellantis spokesperson said that the production at Bursa would complement existing production of midsize vans at Hordain and Luton. The spokesperson said the vans built in Turkey would be for Citroen, FIat, Opel, Peugeot and a fifth brand to be named later.
CEO Carlos Tavares is creating a fully independent commercial van unit to develop new technologies and develop alternative energy powertrains.
The Fiat Doblo will continue to be built by Tofas until this July, when work will start to reconfigure the production lines to build the new vans, which will be on a different platform.
Tofas produced a total of 270,000 vehicles in 2022, up 15 percent from the previous year; 121,500 were exported, of which two thirds were vans.
Last year a total of 82,400 vans were exported by Tofas, an increase of 24 percent. Doblo exports were down 13 percent to 32,807, but exports of the Ram PromasterCity, a version of the Doblo for the North American market, more than doubled to 27,755. Stellantis plans to discontinue sales of the Ram ProMaster City in the U.S. this year.
A total of 39,100 cars were exported from Tofas (down 15 percent), all of the Fiat Tipo compact car; most of the car production (96,665 units) were sold in Turkey under the Egea nameplate.
A newer, third generation Fiat Doblo has been assembled since October 2022 in Portugal alongside the Peugeot Partner, Citroen Berlingo and Opel Combo.
Stellantis said in the release that production Fiat Egea/Tipo will be extended until the end of 2025.
The announcement by Stellantis is part of a broader agreement with Turkey’s Koc Holding aimed at further expanding Tofas, the automaker said. That agreement includes a change of the ownership structure of a local distribution unit that will give Tofas sole ownership.
As a result, all Stellantis brands sold in Turkey — Alfa Romeo, Fiat, Citroën, DS Automobiles, Jeep, Maserati, Opel and Peugeot — will be distributed by Tofas, Stellantis said.
“Deepening our partnership with Koc will create synergies, increase value, and grow the market potential for the array of Stellantis brands across all segments,” Tavares said in a news release.
Tofas was founded in the late 1960s as a joint venture between Koc and Fiat to assemble Fiat vehicles at a plant in Bursa, Turkey.