Mercedes-Benz has Turkey Squarely in its Future Plans

By Isa Sezen, Aksaray
Saturday, September 16, 2006
zaman.com

TURKEY - - German automotive giant Mercedes-Benz is celebrating its 20th year of manufacturing in Turkey.

Hubertus Troska, head of the Mercedes-Benz Trucks Business Unit, announced they would continue their investments as part of efforts to become an active part of the Turkish truck market in the next 20 years.

“Turkey is the second most important market after Germany for us. We will profit with our factory in Turkey in any product we manufacture,” Troska said, expressing the lack of appreciation toward the Turkish truck market by foreign truck manufacturers.

The Mercedes-Benz Aksaray Truck Plant celebrated its 20th anniversary.

Troska, who was in Turkey to attend celebrations, said Turkey was not just a market for them at the moment but also a part of the manufacturing network.

Trucks and spare parts manufactured in Turkey were being sent all over the world, Troska said, adding that Mercedes-Benz would exhibit three trucks manufactured in Turkey at the Hannover Commercial Vehicles Fair.

According to Troska, truck manufacturers in the world underestimated the Turkish market. “The reason for this is that they are far from Turkey. They would appreciate it if they conducted brief research. We made a profit because we were aware of its worth. ”

Troska stated the Turkish market had the second biggest potential after Germany and said they sold more vehicles in Turkey than in the UK, Spain, France and Italy.

“As much as the Turkish market grows, we will continue joining this market in the same way. We can foresee that in the next 20 years so we will increase our production,” Troska said.

Mercedes-Benz Turkish Directors Board Chairman Jurgen Ziegler pointed out they had invested more than $200 million in the Aksaray plant so far and said they were the biggest employer in the region.

Stating their suppliers had contributed much to the region’s development, Ziegler said “Thirteen of our suppliers settled in Aksaray, and they employed 750 people.”

The Mercedes-Benz Aksaray Truck Plant was established in 1986.

The plant operates on an area of 558,000 square meters and employs 1,300 people.

The plant was included into the manufacturing network of Mercedes-Benz in 1998 and 12,700 vehicles were manufactured in the plant in 2005, of which 3,500 were exported.

Since its establishment, 75,000 vehicles have been manufactured and 6,000 trucks have been sold to 56 countries since the start of exportation in 2001.

The total amount of export is valued at 150 million euros.