Turkey's Otokar to produce IVECO buses

Turkey’s Otokar will produce buses for global bus manufacturing brand IVECO BUS in its factories in western Turkey’s Sakarya province within the scope of an agreement signed between the two companies, a statement by Otokar said Wednesday.

Otokar is a Turkish defense and automotive manufacturer company and IVECO BUS is a global manufacturer of buses and coaches and a brand of CNH Industrial N.V.

The statement said that the Otokar, under the scope of the agreement signed Tuesday, will not only produce already existing models of the global brand in Turkey but the agreement will also cover the production of models specifically catering to markets in Eastern Europe, Africa, the Middle East and Asia.

Engines from Otokar’s sister brand FPT Industrial will also be used in new models, the first of which is expected to be produced within the year 2021.

Through this agreement, IVECO BUS seeks to expand its manufacturing capabilities while maintaining all regular activities at its existing manufacturing sites where its current and future model generations will continue to be designed and manufactured.

Otokar Chairman Serdar Görgüç said in the company's statement that it is with great pride that Otokar’s technology, engineering and manufacturing capabilities are recognized by the world-renowned brand in the mass passenger transport sector.

“Utilizing our existing facilities to manufacture IVECO BUS models will enable our plant to operate even more efficiently and effectively. While we will continue to market our buses and expand globally, we consider this manufacturing and supply agreement to be a very important and strategic first step in long-term cooperation,” he said.

Sylvain Blaise, head of the Global Bus Division at CNH Industrial, whose views were also included in the statement, said the new partnership paves the way for many opportunities in the company’s businesses.

“Thanks to this cooperation we will be able to increase our manufacturing capabilities in order to respond to current and future market demand to support our continued growth, as well as giving us the opportunity to work jointly on future portfolio expansion,” he said, underlining that with close to 60 years of experience, Otokar’s well-regarded expertise in bus manufacturing and engineering, together with IVECO BUS' service network and connected services, which are key pillars of the IVECO DNA, “will ensure that customers will continue to receive industry-leading sustainable transport solutions with best in class performance, quality and total cost of ownership.”

Blaise added that the partnership will also benefit from future powertrain technologies under development at FPT Industrial.

Operating at its plant with 552,000 square meters of production area in the Arifiye district of western Turkey’s Sakarya with 2,000 employees, Otokar, a subsidiary of Koç Group, offers solutions tailored to the needs of its customers using its own technology, design and applications. The company has over 30 years of experience in both engineering and design in the field of both transportation and military hardware and has been exporting its vehicles to over 35 countries across five continents. The company is also a supplier to NATO and the U.N. and retains a good deal of intellectual property rights over its products.