Fiat’s Doblo van line is to be sold in the US and Canada under Chrysler’s Ram truck brand from 2013. It will be the second Turkish-built light commercial to be launched in North America after Ford’s Transit Connect, a direct rival.
A letter of intent has been signed between Fiat Group Automobiles and its Turkish joint-venture partner TOFAS for the supply of the Doblò to Chrysler.
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The seven-year supply agreement calls for TOFAS to export 190,000 units from its Bursa facility – Turkey’s largest automobile production plant.
TOFAS will spend aboutUS$160m for the necessary US and Canadian homologation and customer requirement modifications. These are expected to include a conventional automatic transmission rather than the automated manual type of gearbox more common in Europe.
Established in 1968, TOFAS is a joint venture between Fiat Group Automobiles and the Koc Group.
The Doblo passed the million vehicle milestone last year. Also last year, Fiat signed an agreement with General Motors’ European unit Opel for the Doblo to form the basis of the new Opel and Vauxhall Combo sold in Australia and New Zealand as a Holden. This agreement will see another 250,000 Doblo-based vehicles coming out of the TOFAS factory from the end of 2011.
