Karsan plans to reduce its stake in Italian company

Karsan, the Turkish automotive manufacturer, has plans to decrease its stake in the Italy-based Industria Italiana Auto to 10 percent after increasing its stake from five to 70 percent, Italian press reports said. The Turkish company paid $4.13 million for the acquisition, according to a company announcement. However, a week later the company was reported to be decreasing its stake, based on the statements of Okan Bas, the CEO of Karsan.

Industria Italiana Auto produces BredaMenaribus branded public passenger busses that are also used in Istanbul’s municipal public transportation system and other provinces in Turkey. Karsan has had an exclusive agreement with the Italian company to manufacture and sell BredaMenaribus city buses since 2010.

Karsan is a public automotive compa- ny that is listed on Borsa Istanbul. It has a production facility in Bursa province, producing commercial vehicles since 1981. It has a capacity to manufacture 18,200 vehicles annually and has agreements to produce light commercial vehicles for Hyundai Motor Company (HMC), in addition to its BredaMenarinibus city buses. It also manufactures its own buses under its Jest brand and has produced a total of 140,000 Peugeot Partner and Citroen Berlingo as well as 5,000 Renault Premium Lander and Long Distance trucks.

Karsan founded a company in Turin in 2014 to oversee marketing, sales and after-sales activities of Karsan in Europe, as well as another company in the U.S. in 2010 that facilitates business processes between Karsan and local authorities in New York.