The new generation of the light commercial vehicle Fiat Doblo, which has been produced in Turkish automaker Tofaş's factory in the northwestern province of Bursa for 22 years will soon be produced at the Vigo factory in Galicia, Spain, according to a company statement on Tuesday.
Tofaş, which made the related statement to the Public Disclosure Platform (KAP), said that the new Fiat Doblo will be produced at Stellantis' factory. Tofaş is a joint venture of Turkish conglomerate Koç Holding and Fiat. Stellantis was formed in 2021 through the merger between France's PSA and Fiat Chrysler.
"Studies and evaluations on new products to be produced at the Tofaş factory continue, including extending the production of the current Fiat Doblo model, which is expected to continue until the end of 2022, for Turkey, North America, Canada, the Middle East and Africa, in line with the demand from export markets, and the finalized important information will be shared with the public," Tofaş said in the statement.
With this decision, light commercial models of Fiat, Peugeot, Opel and Citroen within the Stellantis group will be produced on the same platform. Toyota's light commercial model has also been produced in partnership with Stellantis for an extended period.
Brands such as Ferrari, Abarth, Alfa Romeo, Chrysler, Citroen, Dodge, DS, Fiat, Jeep, Lancia, Maserati, Opel, Peugeot, Ram and Vauxhall operate within Stellantis.
In the official statement made by Stellantis, it was noted that the new Doblo will be presented to the consumer with a fully electric option. It said that the fifth-generation Doblo will be Fiat's third 100% electric model and also provided information about the vehicle's internal combustion engines.
Accordingly, a 1.5-liter 100-horsepower diesel engine will be used in the manual transmission option, while the 130-horsepower version of this engine will be offered for sale with both manual and 8-speed automatic transmissions.
The Doblo will also feature a 1.2-liter petrol engine that produces 100 horsepower.
In the electric version of the new Doblo, a 100 kW electric motor and a 50 kWh battery will be installed.
With this combination, the range of the Doblo is expected to be 280 kilometers (174 miles) with a top speed of 130 kph. The company has also said that the vehicle will offer 260 Nm of torque.
Shares in Tofaş dropped more than 7% on Tuesday after the announcement that the production was shifted to Spain.
The production of Fiat Doblo, which has been produced in Turkey for 22 years, started in Tofaş in September 2000, with the decision of Fiat to carry out the production of a model in a country other than Italy for the first time in the world.
The Doblo, which came off the bands as a model born from scratch in Turkey, was produced in 100,000 units in the first year of its manufacturing. In the same year, 90% of the total Doblo production was exported to 43 countries.
Doblo, which was sent to all European countries in 2001, constituted 83% of Tofaş's total exports at that time.
In 2006, the production of the second generation of Doblo started. The vehicle won the Commercial Vehicle of the Year award in Europe that year. The next generation of the Doblo was also named Commercial Vehicle of the Year in Europe in 2011.
Some 75% of the total production of more than 2 million units of Doblo, which has been offered to world markets in four generations, has been exported to more than 80 countries around the globe so far.
Tofaş, in which Koç Holding and FCA Italy SPA are equal shareholders, manufactures the Fiat Egea family's sedan, hatchback, station wagon and cross models, as well as Fiorino models, in addition to the Doblo.
The annual production capacity of the company's factory is 450,000 per year, according to the statement.
While total production of Tofaş decreased in 2021, Doblo production increased. Producing a total of 250,630 vehicles in 2020 at the factory in Bursa, Tofaş produced 68,798 Doblos in the same year.
Tofaş, whose total production decreased to 228,810 in 2021, increased its Doblo production to 77,520 units last year. The figures reveal that about 35% of the company's total production consists of Doblos.