Vatan - A newly-commissioned manufacturing plant along with an increasing demand at home and abroad will significantly raise the levels of production and exports of Ford Otosan this year, according to a biannual operations report released by the company.
The JV between Ford Motor Company and Türkiye’s Koc Holding expects record levels of production and sales in 2015 as investments of about USD 1.6 billion in design and production operations over the last 5 years in Türkiye begins to pay off.
“Strong performance in the domestic market and the key European markets in the first half of the year will translate into a year-end sales figure of 394.000”, the report cited, estimating the overall sales figure in the Turkish auto market this year to be around 988.000 units, indicating a 23 percent increase from 2014.
“The Yenikoy plant which entered production in 2014 will help Ford Otosan reach a production volume of 344.000 motor vehicles in 2015, up from last year’s 245.000”, the report said. The highest-ever production figures for the company so far were realized in 2011 with 296.000 units.
Last year, Ford Otosan exported USD 3.5 billion worth of motor vehicles to 106 countries worldwide, becoming the largest exporter of Türkiye’s automotive industry for the fourth time. Over 192.000 vehicles were shipped to overseas markets from Ford Otosan plants in 2014.
The company’s Yenikoy plant manufactures the Courier line, Tourneo Courier and Transit Courier, at a combined rate of 110.000 units per year. The Gölcük plant, also in Kocaeli, manufactures variants of Transit series medium commercial vehicles while Inonu plant in Eskisehir is engaged in heavy truck production. Ford Otosan also has an engineering center in the country, employing 1,300 engineers that work on the development of engines and vehicles.