Peugeot-Citroen teams up with Turkey's Karsan to manufacture car parts

French car maker PSA Peugeot-Citroen said Friday it has signed a letter of intent to team with Turkish automotive company Karsan to make mechanical parts for commercial vehicles.

Photo: Peugeot-Citroen teams up with Turkey's Karsan to manufacture car parts

The companies are also considering assembling the vehicles themselves at Karsan's plant in Bursa, Turkey, for sale in the region, Peugeot-Citroen said in a statement.

The French company, Europe's second-largest car maker by volume, said the planned cooperation with Karsan Otomotiv Sanayi ve Ticaret A.S. is part of its Cap 2010 recovery plan, aimed at seeking profitable new markets outside Western Europe.

Peugeot-Citroen is already present in Turkey with Italy's Fiat Automobile and Turk Otomobil Fabrikasi (Tofas), another Turkish car maker - to develop and produce small entry-level commercial vehicles for the European market.

These vehicles are expected to go on sale in the coming weeks, under the Citroen, Peugeot and Fiat badges. The original plan outlined in 2005 called for production of up to 135,000 vehicles a year at Tofas' assembly plant at Bursa, but they will probably make more.