Dünya – The Turkish division of Mercedes-Benz announced plans to significantly upgrade its truck plant in the Central Anatolian province of Aksaray. The EUR 113 million-investment in the plant will nearly double the production capacity and create 1,200 new jobs over the next three years.
The groundbreaking ceremony of the expansion facility was attended by Türkiye’s Minister of Science, Industry and Technology Fikri Işık and Mercedes-Benz Türk executives. Speaking at the ceremony, Minister Işık said that Türkiye ranked first in bus and light commercial vehicle production in the EU and second in trucks.
“In addition to being a production hub for global automotive makers, Türkiye is also emerging as a research and development center. Mercedes-Benz Türk is one of the pioneering firms to have taken advantage of the engineering and design skills available in Türkiye with the launch of their first R&D center in the country in 2009. The Turkish government strongly backs international investors with manufacturing and export operations in Türkiye,” the Minister said, adding that a new reform package that includes new incentives for R&D operations is in parliamentary approval stage.
Speaking at the event, Mercedes-Benz Türk CFO Stefan Baasner said that the company’s EUR 113 million investment program would significantly increase the company’s exports from Türkiye. “By 2018, Mercedes Benz Türk investments in Aksaray will amount to EUR 470 million,” Baasner noted.
The company’s Aksaray plant produced a total of 19,866 trucks in 2015, its highest annual figure to date. The production will rise to 34,000 vehicles over the next three years. Mercedes-Benz Türk exports trucks of various size and capacities to 58 countries from the Aksaray plant.
Active in Türkiye since 1967, Mercedes-Benz Türk also has a bus production plant in Hoşdere, İstanbul, which houses an R&D center and an IT service center.