TOFAŞ Türk Otomobil Fabrikası A.Ş (acronym for ''Türk Otomobil Fabrikası Anonim Şirketi''; ''Turkish Automobile Factory Joint-Stock Company'' pronounced ) is a Turkish

automobile A car, or an automobile, is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of cars state that they run primarily on roads, Car seat, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport private transport#Personal transport, peopl ...

manufacturer which was established in 1968 by Vehbi Koç, who founded Koç Holding, based in

Bursa Bursa () is a city in northwestern Turkey and the administrative center of Bursa Province. The fourth-most populous city in Turkey and second-most populous in the Marmara Region, Bursa is one of the industrial centers of the country. Most of ...

, where the manufacturing plant of the company is located. It is jointly owned by

Stellantis Stellantis N.V. is a multinational automaker formed in 2021 through the Mergers and acquisitions, merger of the Italian–American conglomerate Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) and the French PSA Group, PSA (Peugeot S.A.) Group. The company's hea ...

and Koç Holding (37.8% of the company's shares belong to Stellantis (through Fiat Group Automobiles); 37.8% to Koç Holding; and 24.3% freefloat). Tofaş manufactures both passenger cars and light commercial vehicles. It is one of the biggest automakers in the sector, with its 7,000 employees and 450,000 vehicles annual production capacity. Tofaş manufactures for the

Fiat Fiat Automobiles S.p.A., commonly known as simply Fiat ( , ; ), is an Italian automobile manufacturer. It became a part of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles in 2014 and, in 2021, became a subsidiary of Stellantis through its Italian division, Stellant ...

Citroën Citroën ()The double-dot diacritic over the 'e' is a diaeresis () indicating the two vowels are sounded separately, and not as a diphthong. is a French automobile brand. The "Automobiles Citroën" manufacturing company was founded on 4 June 19 ...

Peugeot Peugeot (, , ) is a French automobile brand owned by Stellantis. The family business that preceded the current Peugeot companies was established in 1810, making it the oldest car company in the world. On 20 November 1858, Émile Peugeot applie ...

Opel Opel Automobile GmbH (), usually shortened to Opel, is a German automobile manufacturer which has been a subsidiary of Stellantis since 16 January 2021. It was owned by the American automaker General Motors from 1929 until 2017 and the PSA Gr ...

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and RAM brands in Bursa, which has achieved for it the “Gold Level” within the scope of the WCM-World Class Manufacturing Program that is implemented in the 175 plants within the framework of Stellantis. Tofaş plays a leading role in Turkish automotive sector; it conducts sales and after sales operations for the Fiat, Alfa Romeo, Lancia, Jeep, Ferrari, and Maserati brands in Turkey. Tofaş exported 160,000 units to 80 countries in 2013. It also recorded 7 billion TL net sales income and 434 million TL net profit. Fulfilling 22% of the total production in Turkey with its 240,000 units in the previous year, Tofaş achieved 1.6 billion euro export income by increasing its export volume by 4%.

History

Tofaş was founded in 1968. The company’s production plant was established in Bursa in 1969, marking the beginning of its manufacturing operations in Turkey. In 1971, Tofaş introduced its first model, the Fiat 124, produced under license from Fiat and locally named ''Murat 124'' (with a later version called ''Serçe''). This year also saw the establishment of Tofaş's first motorsports team. In 1973, Tofaş formed a spare parts company called OPAR, (OPAR is an abbrevation for Orjinal Parça ''(Turkish)'' or Original Parts ''(English)'', probably inspired from MOPAR) focusing on the sale of spare parts for a variety of vehicle brands. The company’s sports activities were further formalized in 1974 with the founding of the Tofaş Sport Club. Tofaş expanded its export market in 1975 by shipping vehicles to Egypt, its first international market. In 1976, Tofaş began production of the ''

Murat 131 Murat may refer to: Places Australia * Murat Bay, a bay in South Australia * Murat Marine Park, a marine protected area France * Murat, Allier, a commune in the department of Allier * Murat, Cantal, a commune in the department of Cantal El ...

'' model. The company’s product lineup grew in the early 1980s, with the start of production for the '' Kartal'' and '' Dogan'' models in 1981. production of Fiat 131 and its derivatives continued until 2003 and until 2010 in CKD form. In 1990, Tofaş began producing the ''Tempra'', and in 1994, the ''Uno'' model was introduced. That same year, Tofaş established its Research and Development (R&D) division. Exports of the '' Tempra'' began in 1995, marking a broader international presence for the company. In 1997, Tofaş and OPAR merged into a single entity. In 1999, Tofaş began production of the '' Marea'' and '' Brava'' models, followed by the ''Doblò'' in 2000 which was designed by Tofaş. The company also launched the Tofaş Basketball Volunteer Project in 2000. In 2001, Tofaş merged its production plant with Tofaş Oto Ticaret, the company’s automotive trade division. That year, the company entered into a partnership with Alfa Romeo, which began producing cars at the Tofaş factory. The '' Albea'' model entered production in 2002, and in 2003, Tofaş opened the Tofaş Museum of Cars in Anatolia. In 2005, Tofaş became the official distributor of Ferrari and Maserati in Turkey, establishing the ''Fer Mas'' company to manage these brands. Exports to Russia of the ''Palio'' and ''Albea'' models began in 2006. Tofaş acquired official distribution rights for Lancia in 2007 and completed the ''Minicargo'' project, resulting in the launch of the ''Fiat Fiorino''. The vehicle was also sold to PSA as the ''Peugeot Bipper'' and ''Citroën Nemo'', marking the first time Tofaş sold the rights to one of its models. In 2009, the ''Albea Sole'' model was introduced, and Tofaş S.K. won promotion to the Turkish Basketball Super League. In 2012, following the merger between Fiat and Chrysler, Jeep joined Tofaş in Turkey. By this time, the company had produced 4 million vehicles. In 2013, Tofaş formed a partnership with Magneti Marelli for the sale of automotive parts in Turkey and achieved the WCM “Gold Level” at its Bursa production plant. Tofaş continued its investment in education and innovation by opening the ''Tofaş Academy'' in 2014 and establishing the ''Tofaş Science High School'' the same year. In 2023, the company announced that it would consolidate the commercial activities of all Stellantis brands under Tofaş.

Annual production

*1972–20,000 units *1984–35,000 units *1990–100,000 units *1993–250,000 units *2007–360,000 units *2008–400,000 units

Models and production years

*1971 - Murat 124 *1976 - Murat 131 *1981 - 131 Kartal and 131 Doğan *1983 - 124 Serçe and 131 Kartal (new body) *1988 - 131 Şahin, Doğan and Kartal (new body) *1990 - Fiat Tempra *1993 - Tipo & Tempra SW *1994 - Fiat Uno *1998 - Fiat Palio, Palio weekend and Siena *1999 - Fiat Marea & Fiat Brava *2000 - Fiat Doblò *2002 - Fiat Albea *2005 - Fiat Linea *2007 - Mini Cargo (Fiat Fiorino - Peugeot Bipper - Citroën Nemo) *2010 - New Fiat Doblò *2012 - New Fiat Linea *2015 - New Fiat Tipo/Egea

Current production

Tofaş currently produces the following models for Stellantis: * Fiat Tipo (2015) * Citroën Jumpy/Dispatch/SpaceTourer * Fiat Scudo/Ulysse * Peugeot Expert/Traveller * Opel/Vauxhall Vivaro/Zafira * Toyota ProAce (Verso)

Discontinued

Old models the company has produced in the past include: * Fiat 124, as the Tofaş Murat 124 and later Tofaş Serçe * Fiat 131, as the Tofaş Murat 131, Şahin, Doğan, or Kartal * Tipo * Tempra * Uno * Brava * Linea * Marea * Palio *

Siena Siena ( , ; traditionally spelled Sienna in English; ) is a city in Tuscany, in central Italy, and the capital of the province of Siena. It is the twelfth most populated city in the region by number of inhabitants, with a population of 52,991 ...

* Albea *

Qubo Qubo ( ; stylized as qubo) was an American television network for children between the ages of 5 and 14. Owned by Ion Media, it consisted of a 24-hour free-to-air television network often mentioned as the "Qubo channel" (available as a digital ...

* Citroën Nemo * Peugeot Bipper * Opel Combo * Fiat Doblò * Ram ProMaster City * Fiat Fiorino

Logo

File:Tofas logo.png, Tofas (1968-2008) File:TOFAS Logo.svg, Tofas (2008–present)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Tofas Turkish brands Companies listed on the Istanbul Stock Exchange Companies in the BIST 100 Car manufacturers of Turkey Vehicle manufacturing companies established in 1968 Koç family Stellantis 1968 establishments in Turkey Companies based in Bursa