Carmaker TOFAŞ has started production of a new family of light commercial vans at its plant in Bursa, northwest Türkiye, under a $300 million project that will add 100,000 vehicles a year to its capacity and create around 1,000 jobs, Hürriyet reported on Monday evening.
The line, known as the K9 project, builds four sister models for the Stellantis group: the Fiat Doblo, Citroën Berlingo, Opel Combo and Peugeot Rifter, including their passenger "Combi" versions. Industry and Technology Minister Mehmet Fatih Kacır attended the production start ceremony and drove the first Fiat Doblo off the line, with members of the Koç family on board.
Koç Holding chairman Ömer Koç and Samir Cherfan, Stellantis’ chief operating officer for the Middle East and Africa, also attended. According to figures given at the ceremony, TOFAŞ has operated in Türkiye for 55 years, employs nearly 5,000 people and has an annual capacity of 500,000 vehicles.
Electric vans possible later
The new line is built on a multi-energy platform, which gives the plant flexibility over which drivetrains it produces and is expected to open the way for electric light commercial vehicles to be made in Bursa in future, Hürriyet said. Close to 100 domestic suppliers are expected to win business from the project.
Kacır described the project as opening "the doors to a new era" for the company. The Doblo is in effect returning home: it was first built in Bursa in 2000, and more than 2 million units of the first two generations were produced there, close to 1.5 million of them for export. Bursa outlets including Bursa Hakimiyet also reported the $300 million investment and 1,000 new jobs.
Ankara pitches Türkiye to Europe
The minister used the ceremony to argue that Türkiye is a strategic partner for the European Union rather than a competitor. He said nearly 80% of the 1.5 million motor vehicles built in Türkiye last year came from lines of EU-linked manufacturers, that about 64% of auto parts exports go to the EU, and that automotive exports reached a record $41.5 billion last year. He also cited $9.5 billion in support allocated to electric vehicle and battery investments under the government’s HIT-30 incentive programme.
The message comes as Brussels debates "Made in Europe" rules that could leave Türkiye-made vehicles outside some EU preferences, an issue Ankara has been lobbying hard on. The new investment also lands in a difficult year for the sector: Türkiye’s vehicle output fell 5.9% in the first nine months as imports dominated the domestic car market. Neighbouring Sakarya, home to Toyota’s plant, exports about two-thirds of its vehicles.
What it means
For residents, the project is mainly a jobs and industry story for Bursa rather than a change in prices: no price or launch details for the Turkish market were given at the ceremony. Kacır said the government’s goal is for Türkiye’s vehicle market to exceed 2 million units a year, up from about 1.5 million now.
Sources
- Otomotivde 300 milyon dolarlık yeni yatırım (Hürriyet)
- Bursa’ya 300 milyon dolarlık dev yatırım! TOFAŞ’ta 1000 kişiye yeni iş imkanı (Bursa Hakimiyet)
- TOFAŞ’ın 300 Milyon Dolarlık K9 Projesi Üretime Başladı (Rayhaber)
Photo: Jakub "Flyz1" Maciejewski / CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
