Tofas seeks to develop Alfa Romeo in Turkey

"Engineering forms the 80 percent of research and development; we apply to do this. We can develop the new models of the Alfa Romeo, if Fiat wants," Hurriyet daily quoted Tofas Chief Executive Officer Ali Pandir as saying. Tofas is the Turkish manufacturer of cars for the Italian Fiat SpA.

"All automobiles produced in Turkey's Bursa province do not need to be a 100 percent production of Turkish engineers. But we say we can 'do' this. We are also in a position to design other brands of the Fiat Group. The artistic design of these brands can continue to be made in Italy. But we can develop the product in Bursa."

Tofas's research and development department has the design copyrights for the new versions of Doblo and Minicargo vans, the Hurriyet report added.

Tofas is Turkey's second largest automotive company with total sales of 3.66 billion YTL ($3 billion) in 2007.