PSA Peugeot Citroen and Karsan sign technical cooperation agreement

PSA Peugeot Citroen and Karsan signed a cooperation agreement on February 28 2008 to jointly produce the Citroen Berlingo First and Peugeot Partner Origin and develop and manufacture the extended versions of these mini-vans. The latter are designed for Turkey and export markets outside of the European Union.

These vans will be assembled from the end of 2008 in the Karsan plant at Bursa, Turkey. 150,000 units will be produced by the end of 2013.

The agreement supports the momentum of the Cap 2010 programme implemented by PSA Peugeot Citroen since mid-2007. The aim of this move is to accelerate and extend the product plan for new vehicle projects by 2010 and to step up international expansion.

PSA Peugeot Citroen sold 39,100 vehicles in Turkey in 2007 to hold 6.6% of the Turkish market. This is one of the biggest markets in Central and Eastern Europe with close to 595,000 units sold in 2007.

Working together with the Group for many years now, Karsan already assembles the Peugeot Partner Origin at its Bursa plant for the local market.

Karsan Automotiv Sanayi Ve Ticaret is a Turkish carmaker, subsidiary of the Kiraça group.