Tofaş can go to work
Stellantis will outsource the production of the so-called K0 commercial vehicles to the Tofaş factory in Turkey. With that, he gets five models from as many brands in one fell swoop.
Of course, you shouldn’t take that of those five models too literally. After all, the Fiat Scudo, Peugeot Expert, Citroën Jumpy, Opel Vivaro and Toyota ProAce are basically the same. With a different front and, of course, unique brand logos and type plates, all the brands mentioned have such a bus in house. In addition to the order versions mentioned, the passenger car variants of the mentioned models will also be built in the Turkish factory.
That factory in question is that of Tofaş. If that word sounds familiar to you, it’s not surprising: Tofaş was once a car brand. It mainly built Fiat products under license and remained associated with Fiat as a brand name even after the disappearance of Tofaş. That makes Tofaş now a factory of Stellantis, of which all the brands mentioned except Toyota are part. The production of the vans will not start immediately: it should be ready at the beginning of 2025.
Although Stellantis does not say so in so many words, the choice for Turkey undoubtedly has something to do with the need to stop production of these models in Russia. The company cars are also built in France and England.
Tofaş is already making the Fiat Doblo and the Tipo, which is called Egea in Turkey and is very popular there. Doblo production will continue until July, when the conversion of the production line will start during the summer holidays. The Tipo/Egea will be built until the end of 2025, which means that the lifespan of that model will be further extended.
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– Thanks for information from Autoweek.nl