As the title of this article so eloquently states, the small Linea sedan was entirely engineered and built in Turkey by Tofaş under a joint-venture agreement with Fiat. It’s based on the same platform as the Puno, and has been in production at the manufacturer’s Bursa plant, in the northwest of the country, since 2007, alongside the cheaper (old Palio-based) Albea and a whole bunch of differently-badged small commercial vehicles.
Now, AutoNews Europe reports that a replacement model for it is now surely in the pipeline, as per a statement made at the Istanbul Stock Exchange, which went along the lines of a $520 / €385 investment in the aforementioned plant “to more than double production to 580,000 vehicles by 2023 from 256,428 in 2012.”
Just like the current Linea, the new car will be designed with a global model mentality in mind, and one third of the production is expected to be steered towards export.
However, no details as to what it will be like have been spilled, so all we can do now is wait for spy photographers to spot the mules, then the heavily camouflaged test cars, before it will finally be fully revealed.
If you have no idea what the Fiat Linea is, or what its purpose is, check it out from an Indian perspective, via the video below (India is the only partly English-speaking country where it is sold).
By Andrei Nedelea
VIDEO