Sergio Marchionne, CEO of Fiat, Jean-Martin Folz, CEO of PSA Peugeot Citroën, Mustafa Koç, Chairman of Koç Holding & Tofas and Diego Avesani, CEO of Tofas, on Thursday signed a co-operation agreement to jointly develop and produce small entry-level light commercial vehicles for sale in Europe.
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Scheduled for rollout in 2008, the new vehicles will extend the current Fiat, Peugeot and Citroën product ranges.
In response to anticipated changes in the entry level segment of the European light commercial vehicle market, PSA Peugeot Citroën, Fiat and Tofas are introducing an “innovative small vehicle concept” to extend their current commercial vehicle model lines.
The three partners’ objective is to design a compact, economical, multi-purpose commercial vehicle that will be modern, sturdy and attractive.
Powered by especially fuel-efficient engines, it will enable the partners to meet the expected growth in the entry-level segment with a range of particularly affordable vehicles.
“The new models will deliver effective environmental and mobility solutions for business use in metropolitan areas, as well as excellent highway performance,” the companies said in a statement.
Tofas will take charge of co-ordinating the development and production of the future models based on a new platform. The vehicles will be produced at its plant in Bursa, Turkey where annual production capacity will be 135,000 units, two-thirds for PSA Peugeot Citroën and one-third for Fiat, including Tofas.
Total investment, including research and development and production start-up costs, is estimated at about €350 million.
PSA and Fiat already produce three joint venture vehicle lines – the medium size Citroen Jumpy/Peugeot Expert/Fiat Scudo vans, the Citroen Jumper/Peugeot Boxer/Fiat Ducato large van and cab/chassis models and the Citroen C8/Peugeot 807/Fiat Ulysse/Lancia Phedra large MPV/minivan/people mover line.
Currently, the smallest Peugeot van is the Partner (a re-badged Citroen Berlingo); the smallest Citroen van is the new C2 Enterprise and the lowest cost PSA model is the Citroen C15, which has so far sold just over a million and is 21 years old this year. The smallest Fiat van is the Doblo, a Citroen Berlingo sized van.
A spokesman for the Australia and New Zealand Citroen and Fiat van distributor, Ateco, said his company would be glad to ship the new small commercial vehicle model line ‘down under’ if it was offered.
Right-hand-drive availability is already a certainty as some European markets – including England, Ireland, Cyprus and Malta – require RHD. RHD models could also be sold in the Indian sub-continent, some African markets, Japan and several Far East and Asia-Pacific territories if the partnership decided to export outside Europe.
“Ateco has no specific details of the new vehicle, but given the right price and the reputation of its parents as producers of excellent commercial vehicles, this new vehicle could have a very strong future in Australia and New Zealand. We would be happy to welcome it here,” the spokeman said.
