Milliyet – Japanese car maker Toyota’s plant in Türkiye is among the candidates to manufacture the new C-HR Concept, unveiled at the Paris Motor Show in 2014, and set to enter production a short while ago.
The concept of the subcompact crossover will undergo changes until the Geneva Motor Show next March, where the announcement of a production location is likely, according to Karl Schlicht, the Executive Vice President of Toyota Europe, speaking at Frankfurt Motor Show 2015.
“B-SUV is the fastest growing market segment, holding great potential in Europe”, Schlicht said, adding that the company has decided to manufacture the C-HR Concept which will come in both hybrid and petrol versions.
Manufacturing the Corolla and Verso model at its plant in Adapazari, Sakarya, located in northwestern Türkiye, the Japanese automotive giant was granted an investment incentive certificate of TRY 1.2 billion this year, calling for a capacity increase up to 250,000, from 170,000, vehicles per year, and the upgrading of assembly lines for the likely addition of the new model.
Earlier reports have suggested that the production model of the C-HR was a high probability addition to the Adapazari plant, given Türkiye’s close proximity to the key European market and the Middle East.
Employing some 3,300 people at its Adapazari plant, Toyota Türkiye’s exports to over 50 countries reached a volume of USD 2 billion dollars in 2014.
In addition to Toyota, Türkiye is a growth market and an export hub for other car producers including Ford, Renault, Fiat, Honda, and Hyundai, all of which run manufacturing operations in the country.