Volvo ends contract with local carmaker

ISTANBUL - Reuters

Turkish Karsan has said its contract to build Renault Trucks in Turkey will not be renewed.

Turkish automaker Karsan has said its contract to build Renault Trucks in Turkey will not be renewed after the current six-year deal expires in November.

Volvo, which owns Renault Trucks, announced on Aug. 20 it had terminated a contract for local assembly in Turkey and that the new range of Renault trucks would be manufactured in France.

Karsan produced 1,002 Renault Trucks and earned 118.9 million Turkish Liras from the sales revenues of 1,004 trucks, according to annual activity of the company. The Renault Trucks revenues accounted for 20 percent of overall revenues of the carmaker that year but it appeared calm about Volvo’s decision, saying there wouldn’t be a substantial impact on the company.

“Since our assembly line is very modern and flexible it can fit in to other tenders. This cancelation won’t affect us that much,” Karsan Executive Director Jan Nahum told Reuters.

The decision is aimed at increasing the capacity usage in Europe and has been taken with passing to new model from Euro 5, Nahum said.

Meanwhile, Volvo said the termination of the contract would have a negative impact on the company to the tune of around 95 million Swedish Krone ($14 million).