Opening production in Türkiye is less about accessing one market and more about building a regional export platform

Renault is opening a second Boreal production hub at its Bursa plant in Türkiye, extending the C-segment SUV’s industrial base beyond the Curitiba facility in Brazil. The Bursa site introduces the new full hybrid E-Tech 160 hp powertrain and will export to Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

Boreal launched in Latin America in 2025 as a globally developed C-segment SUV, deployed across several markets from its Brazilian hub. The Türkiye expansion marks its first production base outside the Americas.

In a statement, Ivan Segal, Head of Sales and Operations, Renault Brand, said: “Boreal now enters a new phase of commercial deployment. Production in Bursa will enable us to address the Turkish market, Renault’s second-largest market worldwide, while opening up exports to a group of markets across Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Africa. With strong product appeal and a competitive industrial footprint, it will support our presence in the high-value C-SUV segment across our international markets.”

The full hybrid E-Tech 160 hp returns 108 g/km CO2 and 4.8 l/100 km (WLTP), enabling up to 80% urban electric driving. A 1.3 TCe EDC 145 hp petrol option also launches, with an E-Tech 4×4 150 hp variant for Q4 2026.

Lionel Jaillet, Chief Executive Officer of Renault Group Türkiye, added: “We are very proud to introduce Boreal to the Turkish market. Being manufactured at our OYAK Renault facility in Bursa will both support domestic demand and strengthen Türkiye’s position in the global automotive ecosystem by contributing to our export targets.”

Why this matters:

• The dual-hub production strategy is the story, not the model itself. Brazil for Latin America, Türkiye for Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Africa: Renault is building regional manufacturing proximity into the Boreal’s architecture from the outset rather than exporting from a single European plant. That approach reduces logistics costs, insulates the model from currency volatility and tariff exposure, and gives Renault the operational agility to adapt specifications by market without disrupting a centralised production line. It is a deliberate response to the lesson that European-centric manufacturing has become a commercial liability in fast-growing emerging markets.

• Introducing the new 160hp E-Tech full hybrid powertrain first in Türkiye rather than Europe is a meaningful sequencing choice. Renault’s home market electrification strategy is increasingly BEV-focused, but the markets Boreal is targeting—Turkey, the Middle East, North Africa, Eastern Europe—have limited charging infrastructure and strong consumer preference for familiar powertrain technology. Launching the full hybrid here first reflects a pragmatic read of where electrification is commercially viable outside Western Europe, and positions Renault ahead of competitors still offering only petrol variants in those markets.

• Türkiye is Renault’s second-largest market globally. The OYAK Renault facility has long been a cornerstone of the group’s international manufacturing footprint, and anchoring a new global nameplate there reinforces that relationship at a moment when Renault is rationalising its European industrial base. Boreal’s success in Turkey will matter to the Bursa plant’s long-term viability as much as its export contribution to the wider regional rollout.