Sabah – Germany’s MAN, manufacturer of trucks, buses and ship propulsion systems, has announced the relocation of bus production operations from its home country to Ankara, Türkiye.
Production at the MAN factory in Plauen, Germany, where the Neoplan buses are made, will be moved to the company’s Ankara plant, which has been manufacturing buses and coaches since 1986. Citing high production costs and the drop in demand for luxury buses in Europe as reasons for the decision, the MAN statement said that the relocation would be complete by March, 2015.
MAN Türkiye commenced its operations in 1966 as MAN’s first production plant outside Germany. The Turkish division currently exports to 41 countries.
Türkiye has extensive expertise as a production base for heavy commercial vehicles with MAN, Ford, Daimler, Karsan, Isuzu, Otokar, Temsa and BMC having bus and truck plants in the country.