Sabah – Hyundai of South Korea and Turkish automotive company Karsan will jointly invest USD 260 million for the production of Hyundai branded light commercial vehicle (LCV) models of various configurations in Türkiye.
According to the contract signed between the two companies, following the Framework Agreement of the last year, Karsan will manufacture 3-6 ton range LCVs for Hyundai in Türkiye beginning at the end of 2014. The total production will reach 200,000 vehicles in 7 years, comprising panel vans, light trucks and minibuses.
“Türkiye is the leading maker of LCVs in Europe and the production agreement between Karsan and Hyundai reiterates this fact as 85 percent of the Karsan-manufactured Hyundai vehicles will head to European markets.”, Karsan Chairman Inan Kirac said about the deal that gives Karsan exclusive production rights for the vehicles to be marketed in Europe, the Middle East, North Africa, the Caucasus as well as Türkiye.
Hyundai will invest USD 200 million for the project while Karsan will be responsible for the remaining USD 60 million.
Türkiye is home to Hyundai’s first overseas production plant which currently manufactures passenger cars, i20 Troy and Accent Era, for world markets. Karsan, most notably known for its V1 model passenger vehicle that ran against Nissan and Ford in New York’s next gen taxi cab tender, is also a contract manufacturer of trucks, LCVs and buses working with many brands like Peugeot, Citroen, Renault Trucks and Hyundai Motor Company.