Fiat is to expand its commercial vehicle joint ventures to include General Motors’ Opel/Vauxhall brands from December 2011.
The Italian automaker, which already shares LCVs with PSA Peugeot Citroen, will supply several variants of a model to replace the current Corsa-based Opel/Vauxhall Combo light commercial vehicle, which reaches the end of its lifecycle in the fourth quarter of 2011.
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The new vehicles, based on the same platform as Fiat’s Doblo, will be produced at the Tofas plant in Bursa, Turkey where the Doblo is manufactured. They will be sold by Vauxhall and Opel dealers in Europe and other markets outside of North America starting in January, 2012.
Opel and Vauxhall will retain the Combo name for this vehicle range which will include a number of derivatives, including cargo vans, passenger vehicles and chassis cabs. The Opel/Vauxhall design team in Rüsselsheim, Germany is involved in the development of the new models and workingwith the Fiat Group Automobiles’ Engineering and Design Group in Turin, Italy.
The project calls for an initial supply of up to 6,000 vehicles in 2011. The programme is planned to cover the supply of at least 250,000 units. This will extend the total lifetime production of this vehicle platform in the Tofas plant to 1.3m units.
Tofas is a joint venture between Fiat Group Automobile and Koc Holding of Turkey and was established in 1968.
GM Europe has a CV model sharing arrangement with Renault.
