Karsan
Karsan is a commercial vehicle manufacturer based in Turkey. It was founded in 1966 and began producing light-duty vehicles. In 1981, Karsan entered into an agreement with Peugeot to produce the J9 minibus under license. In 2010, they began production of their own minibus design, the J10.[1]
The United States affiliate of Karsan, Karsan USA, was established in 2008 in response to a request for information issued by the New York Taxi and Limousine Commission for their Taxi of Tomorrow. Karsan's V1 design was one of three shortlisted (the others being the Nissan NV200 and Ford Transit Connect). While the V1 was voted most popular, the contract was ultimately awarded to Nissan in 2011.[2] Karsan continued to pursue the North American market and introduced their low floor minibus, Jest, in 2015. At the same time, the company was pursuing a contract as part of a consortium for up to 300 buses for Miami-Dade Transit. The contract was awarded to another consortium that partnered with New Flyer.