- Tofas is a Turkish automaker headquartered in Istanbul and whose production site is located in Bursa. From a joint venture between the Turkish group Koç and the Italian group Fiat, it has built several Fiat range models under license since January 1971.

- Tofas has announced plans to export the light utility vehicle  Doblo to North America (from late 2014), where it would be marketed by Chrysler under the brand Ram (20 000 units per year are planned).

- Tofas has also indicated that it is working on two new cars for the Turkish market but also for export: a compact sedan and a hatchback model which would be marketed from 2015. Vehicles based on Fiat Linea would replace the current Lineas which are manufactured on the site of Bursa and  whose origins date back to 2006.

- Tofas seeks new opportunities to offset weak European markets. It expects to sell 270,000 vehicles in 2013, including 110,000 vehicles for the local market and 160,000 vehicles  for export.

- Tofas thinks that the Turkish market will be stable in 2013 compared to 2012, at about 750,000 units. Its market share is expected to be between 13 and 15%. This partner of Fiat which manufactures Doblos,  Fiorinos and Lineas (and derived models for Peugeot, Citroën and Opel) is one of the three largest manufacturers located in Turkey, by the side of Ford and Renault.

- The Portuguese car market has dropped sharply since 2010. It has halved since then, but in reality it is 2.5 times less than in 2000 or 2001.

- "The market fell last year to its lowest level since 1985, with 95 290 cars registered, down 37.9% compared to 2011. This year, we still have many business closures, especially as the government did not accept our proposal to establish a new scrapping bonus“ said Pedro, Secretary General of the ACAP (Portuguese Association of Automobile Manufacturers).

- Portugal is a country in Southern Europe most affected by the recession and the drop in auto sales, as well as Greece, Spain and Italy.

- In 2012, 2500 Portuguese companies working in the automotive field (repair, distribution, production) were closed, which has resulted in the loss of 21,000 jobs, said Pedro. A full recovery cannot be expected in 2013, even though the Portuguese market grew 0.8% in January.

Data source: File #55 - Registrations in the World by makes

-According to SIAM (Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers),  LIght Vehicles segment grew at 6.80 percent during April-January 2013 over same period last year. Passenger Cars declined by (-) 1.80 percent, Light Utility Vehicles grew by 56.87 percent and Vans grew by 2.63 percent during April-January 2013 as compared to the same period last year. However, in January 2013 passenger car sales further declined by (-) 12.45 percent over January 2012. Total Light Vehicles sales also declined by (-) 4.62 percent in January 2013 over same month last year.

- In Inovev segmentation, passenger cars integrate the above SIAM categories “Passenger cars” and “Vans”. Considering this definition of Passenger cars, a 7% sales increase sales from 2 056 391 vehicles in April-January 2012 to 2 198 419 in April-January 2013) can be observed.

- In 2013, these trends should continue.

- India is part of the BRIC region whose growth has been continuously strong over the last ten years. Indian market has doubled in the 2000-2006 period and doubled again in the 2006-2012 period. This behaviour is quite different from the American market which also displays a growth. American market grew strongly over the three last years but it was a catch up with years 2008-2009. 

Data source: File #55 - Registrations in the World by makes