Invest News DetailThe Globe and Mail - Chances are most New Yorkers have never heard of Karsan. But if the Turkish automaker has its way, its “V1” will soon be whisking them down Fifth Avenue and Wall Street. Bursa-based Karsan is taking on Nissan and Ford in New York City’s “Taxi of Tomorrow” competition, a bid to replace the city’s standard yellow Crown Victorias with a new generation taxi. Karsan’s V1 is not the only Turkish-built entry in the taxi competition. Ford’s Transit Connect is built with Koc Holding at a plant in Kocaeli, Türkiye. Türkiye, with its low labor costs and flexible production environment, has quietly emerged as a key manufacturing hub for global brands. Toyota, Renault, Fiat and Hyundai all have a presence in the country, where annual production has more than doubled to 1.1 million units since 2000, surpassing Poland and the Czech Republic.