ISTANBUL, May 18 (Reuters) - Turkish vehicle maker Tofas swung to a first quarter net profit of 8.4 trillion lira ($5.5 million) from a loss of 53.13 trillion lira in the same period of 2003, the company said.
Early last year Turkey was still struggling to emerge from a 2001 crisis that saw the economy shrink by around 10 percent.
Tofas announced its profits in a statement to the Istanbul Stock Exchange late on Monday.
Tofas, a joint venture between Italy's Fiat and Turkey's Koc Holding , is the third-largest automaker in Turkey.
Tofas shares were trading up 1.03 percent at 2,450 lira on Tuesday, while the main share index was up 1.0 percent. ($1=1531500 Turkish Lira)