Tofaş, the joint venture between Turkish conglomerate Koç Holding and Fiat, has announced that it has been given the green light for an all-new light commercial vehicle project which will replace the Doblò from late 2009. A 'Production and Manufacturing Agreement' has now been signed between Tofaş and Fiat. "The project No 263 is about the production of new light commercial vehicles which are set to replace the Fiat Doblò van," said Tofaş CEO Ali Pandir.

Tofaş CFO Nezih Olcay told journalists in Turkey this week that the new project, which will be slated at production of 120,000 units per year, will result in Tofas adding 1.1 billion euros per year to its revenues from 2010. Around 70 percent of production will be allocated for export to Europe.

The Doblò was first seen in 2000, and it was partially based around the mechanicals of the Palio. Built solely at Bursa in Turkey, Fiat immediately hit on a very successful formula, that of an effective but low-cost commercial vehicle. A facelift version was introduced in late 2005. Now, for the all-new next-generation model, this project will see an investment of 370 million euros being made by Tofaş between now and September 2009, when the first example of the new model is due to leave the production lines at the Bursa plant, CEO Pandir told reporters during this week's announcement. The project, just like the new 'Minicargo' will be entirely financed by Tofaş, through a 10 year loan which has a built-in 2 year grace period.

Tofaş is having a solid year, leveraging its export potential and building on a firm base. Earlier this month a new light commercial vehicle, the 'Minicargo', was unveiled in a project that involved Tofas, Fiat and PSA Peugeot-Citroën. Dubbed as the Fiorino by Fiat, this new light van will go on sale across Europe later this year and is set to spawn a number of niche versions including an off-road inspired 'Adventure' model.

During the first six months of the year Tofaş has seen its production rise to 95,476 units up from 90,099 during the same period last year, a very solid performance in light of on-going difficult conditions for the Turkish automotive sector, which was 23 percent down year-on-year during the first half of the year.
 

Meanwhile capacity utilisation rose from 72 to 76 percent. As Tofaş embarked on a strategy of building its export business to counteract a difficult domestic market, export revenues climbed from TRY782,240 during the first half of 2006 to TRY985,316 during the same period this year. At the same time domestic revenues slipped from TRY715,168 to TRY629,666 during the first six months of 2006 and 2007 respectively. However the impressive export led drive saw overall revenues up 7.9 percent year-on-year.

Total exports for the first half were 69,117 units, up 20.4 percent on last year, another useful record for the Turkish company, and a result which breaks its 2006 export record. The Doblò Cargo continues to be the main export success story for Tofas, with 34,964 shipped abroad during the first six months of 2007 compared to 32,028 during the same period last year. The Doblò Cargo has been well received on the major Western European new vehicle markets including Italy, the UK and Germany. The Doblò's passenger-carrying sister, the Panorama, was also up year-on-year, with 19,189 units exported during the first half as opposed to 18,184 units in the first six months of 2006.

The new Linea saw 2,897 units exported in the first half, although it only came on-stream in May, and Tofaş has posted an 11,500 unit full-year export target for the C/D segment sedan. Elsewhere the Palio/Albea saw its exports climb to 2,738 in the first six month from 1,950 in the first six months of last year, while the firm's CKD exports more than doubled. All this meant that first half export revenue was 533.6 million euros, as opposed to 473 million euros during the same period last year.

Tofaş turned in improved first half net sales of TRY1,615 million (Q1: TRY717.1M; Q2: TRY897.9M) compared to TRY1,417.4 during the first six months of last year while net profit rose to 73.4 from 27.4 during the same period.