Fiat, PSA and Tofaş to Develop New Fuel-Efficient, Light Commerical Vehicle for Europe

Fiat, PSA Peugeot Citroën and Tofaş, a Turkish automaker and Fiat partner, will jointly develop and produce a new small entry-level light commercial vehicle for the European market. The signing of the agreement follows on the initial exploration of the concept, begun last fall.

Fiat and PSA have joinlty produced medium and large panel vans for some time.

Scheduled for rollout in 2008, the new vehicles will extend the current Fiat, Peugeot and Citroën product ranges.

Powered by especially fuel-efficient engines, the new vehicles will enable the partners to meet the expected growth in the entry-level segment with a range of affordable vehicles. The new models are promised to deliver effective environmental and mobility solutions for business use in metropolitan areas, as well as excellent highway performance.

With the active support of PSA Peugeot Citroën and Fiat, Tofaş will be in charge of coordinating the development and production of the future models based on a new platform. The vehicles will be produced at Tofaş’ plant in Bursa, Turkey. The annual production capacity will be 135,000 units, two-thirds of which will go to PSA Peugeot Citroën and one-third to Fiat and Tofaş.

Total investment, including research and development and production start-up costs, is estimated at roughly €350 million ($454 million).