Karsan Otomotiv Sanayii Ve Ticaret AS, a Turkey-based vehicle manufacturer, is pursuing its plan to sell its taxi model internationally after it lost a bid to supply the next fleet of yellow cabs in New York. Karsan lost to Nissan North America for a 10-year agreement to supply 13,000 compact commercial vehicles to New York City for its entire fleet of taxi cab beginning in 2013. The exclusive deal will replace 16 current taxi cab manufacturers in the city.

Ford Motor Co. also lost the bid to Nissan, which will utilize its new NV200 small van as the official New York taxi, according to Autonews. Compared to Nissan and Ford, Karsan is clearly an underdog in the competition. During the early parts of this year, Karsan triggered an outpouring of public support around the city when it pledged to assemble V1 taxis in Brooklyn from kits if it is selected. Despite failing to obtain the contract, the automaker plans to target other cities for its taxi model after it will launch a prototype this summer.

A spokesman for Karsan told Automotive News Europe that the company will proceed with its target to reach worldwide markets at full speed with V1, following strict compliance with its project plan. On another note, the NV200 official New York taxi is designed on Nissan’s global B-segment platform, which also supports the Nissan Micra, Note and Juke, as well as alliance partner Renault’s Modus and Clio and Renault-owned Dacia’s Logan.