USA / Turkey / Canada – Turkish manufacturer Karsan Otomotiv Sanayii ve Tic. A.Ş, based in Bursa, announced that distribution partner, Damera Bus USA LLC of Kissimmee, Florida, will assemble its electric buses at a new vehicle assembly plant in Peoria, Illinois, which is currently being built. This 55,000‑square‑foot facility, costing USD 31.5 million, will be Damera’s first U.S. assembly plant, which will be responsible for assembling Karsan’s e-JEST. The complex will include assembly and quality control lines, parts and battery assembly zones, testing cells, EV charging infrastructure, and administrative offices. This move represents Karsan’s expansion into the North American market and the need to assemble locally due to the Build-America/Buy-America policies.

* Damera Bus USA LLC is a wholly owned subsidiary of Damera Corporation of Mississauga, Ontario, Canada, which has had the exclusive distribution agreement with Karsan for several years. This investment is to allow Damera to evolve from being an exclusive distributor to fully integrated electric bus assembler. With significant investment, planned scale-up, and localising strategy, it aims to launch U.S.-built Karsan e-JEST minibuses—and soon a larger variant—from its Illinois plant, addressing rising demand in North American transit systems and meeting policy-driven manufacturing benchmarks.