Stellantis to build next Fiat Doblo van in Spain instead of Turkey

The next generation of the Fiat Doblo van will be based on a Stellantis platform and built in the group's factory in Vigo, Spain, instead of its current factory in Turkey, Fiat said.

The new Doblo will share underpinnings with the Citroen Berlingo, Opel/Vauxhall Combo and Peugeot Partner/Rifter. Stellantis also builds a Toyota-branded version, the Proace City.

Like its sibling models, commercial versions of the Doblo will offer internal-combustion and full-electric versions, but the passenger version will be electric-only.   

Two diesel versions of the Doblo are available, with a 1.5-liter engine and either 99 hp or 128 hp. A 1.2-liter gasoline engine, with 108 hp, is also available. 

The electric version, to be called the E-Doblo, has 100-kilowatt electric motor and a 50 kilowatt-hour battery that provides more than 280 km of range in the WLTP cycle. 

The E-Doblo is the third electrified van offered by Fiat Professional, after the Ducato large van and the Scudo medium van. Citroen, Peugeot and Opel/Vauxhall also offer full-electric vans in all three main segments.

The Ducato shares a platform with large vans from Citroen, Opel/Vauxhall and Peugeot, and is built in Atessa, Italy, at the Sevel Sud facility. The Scudo has recently moved to a Stellantis platform, and will be built in northern France alongside Citroen, Peugeot and Opel models. 

Fiat's last brand-specific van is the Fiorino, a smaller model than the Doblo which is also built at the Tofas factory.

U.S. version

The announcement that the new Doblo will be built in Spain raises questions about the future of the Tofas joint venture, which was set up as a partnership between the Turkish Koc group and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, now part of Stellantis.

Tofas previously said output of the Doblo light commercial vehicle would continue at its factory until end-2022. But it said on Monday that assessments were continuing on extending the current Doblo version output until the end of 2023 for non-European markets, including North America, Turkey, the Middle East and Africa.

A version of the Doblo is sold in North America as the Ram ProMaster City.

"Evaluations on new products to be produced in the factory are continuing," Tofas said in a statement.

Shares in Tofas fell by 6.1 percent on Tuesday after the announcement.

Doblo production of 77,530 units last year made up one-third of the factory's output. It also made up 43 percent of Tofas exports with 48,761 units.

Aside from the Doblo, Tofas produces the Fiat Egea compact sedan, which is exported to Western Europe as the Fiat Tipo in hatchback and station wagon variants, and another light commercial vehicle platform, the MCV, in smaller volumes.

Tofas has a production capacity of 450,000 a year, but output decreased after the coronavirus epidemic. It produced about 229,000 vehicles last year.

Reuters contributed to this report