Fiat Group's Turkish joint venture,
Tofaş, which builds the Fiorino and Doblò LCVs and the Linea sedan, has
seen its first half net profits almost double as it
bounces back from the effects of the global financial
crisis. This was on the back of greater efficiencies and
a rise in exports for the first half of the year of more
than a third, exports picking up again after last year's
slowdown, although it underperformed domestically during
the period.Tofaş,
which is 50-50 owned by Fiat Group and leading Turkish
Fortune 500 Global conglomerate Koç Holding,
turned in a net profit for the first six months of this
year of 191.45 million Turkish lira ($125 million) and
that equated to a year-on-year rise of 90.47 percent
(half year 2009 came in at 100.5 million Turkish lira).
Half year revenue stands at 3.12 billion Turkish lira, a
year-on-year rise of 32.9 percent.
Tofaş, which
started building the second-generation Doblò LCV at the
tail end of last year after having successfully built
the first-generation model for a decade, also
manufactures its smaller LCV sister, the Fiorino
(unveiled in October 2007) and its passenger-carrying
offspring, the Qubo. The Bursa-based company took the
lead in developing the current LCV models and holds key
intellectual property rights to both, while the Fiorino
is also badged and sold by PSA Peugeot-Citroën. It was
also the first plant to build the Linea "3-box" sedan.
The Turkish automotive
company, which also controls Fiat's domestic
distribution network as well as managing Alfa Romeo and
Lancia imports saw its domestic retails sales for the
first six months of the year down 3.4 percent
year-on-year, underperforming the overall Turkish new
car market which was up by 1.8 percent over the same
period. However its passenger car sales were up 2
percent year-on-year for the first half while the
overall market slipped 1.8 percent, allowing Tofaş'
market share to climb to 9.2 percent. In the LCV sector
things went sharply south for Tofaş which saw its
market share slide by 7.8 percent over the first half of
this year and underperforming an overall market that
grew by almost 10 percent. That all meant that its
market share slid from 30.2 percent for the first six
months of last year to 25.3 percent over the same period
this year. Combining the passenger cars and LCV sectors, Tofaş'
overall Turkish market share dropped from 15.3 to 14.5
percent year-on-year.
However it was in the
area of exports that the Turkish company was a big
winner as overseas demand, which in particular hit the
LCV market hard during the downturn, gradually recovers:
it exported 160,086 vehicles during the first half of
the year compared to 117,916 during the same six months
last year.
