Koç Holding's automotive arm and new model named best in Europe

Koç Holding Automotive Group has been named the best company in Europe of 2015 and its new Fiat Aegea has been named best car by AUTOBEST, one of the world's most prestigious international automotive award ceremonies. 

The Fiat Aegea was designed by Koç Holding with its foreign partner Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) and is produced in their joint venture Tofa? facility in Turkey's northwestern province of Bursa.

Koç Holding and Tofa? Chairman Mustafa V. Koç said it was a great honor to receive the two awards. 

"We are so pleased to receive these awards at a time when we have been making the largest investments of our corporate history both in Turkey and abroad. The Fiat Aegea Project has marked a turning point in the history of Tofa? as one of the most successful end-products of the Koç Holding-FCA partnership. The first model of the project, the Fiat Aegea Sedan, will be sold in more than 40 markets. The model has already created a boom in its first markets, Turkey and Italy," Koç said in a statement on Dec. 15. 

Production started in September

Tofa? started producing the model on Sept. 28, and with FCA it has invested more than $1.5 billion in the project so far. A majority of this investment has been made in R&D activities and innovation, company representatives say. 

The award-winning Koç-FCA compact sedan will be sold under the name "Tipo" in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. But in Turkey the car has been so successful that it will keep the name "Aegea" (Egea), inspired by the Aegean Sea. 

With a total of 1,492 points, the Fiat Tipo/Aegea clinched first place by 7 points to win the award over the Opel Astra, according to the AUTOBEST website. The Hyundai Tucson came in third with a total of 1...