ContiTech sees booming sales in Turkey

ERJ staff report (LMH)

Hanover, Germany -- For the automotive and commercial vehicle industry, Turkey represents a booming sales and export market as well as a dynamic production location, according to ContiTech, which says it has seen booming trade within the company.

The country's rail transport network is also expanding, and there is plenty of potential for other industries as well. In Bursa, 140 kilometres south of Istanbul, ContiTech produces air springs for the domestic and European markets.

ContiTech has also benefited from a number of transport projects in Istanbul, a city of 13.1 million inhabitants, such as the development of metrobuses, which glide past the traffic jams unhindered on their very own lanes every 15 seconds. Measuring almost 20 metres in length, the buses are built by Mercedes and offer space for up to 193 passengers, ContiTech said.

Meanwhile, development of the underground train network is also in full swing. The first subway line went into operation in the year 2000 and is due to be supplemented by another three lines by 2013.

ContiTech added that businesses are investing heavily in Turkey because of its “impressive development as a market.” In 2001, just 271 000 vehicles left the production lines here. In 2011, this figure had risen to 1.2 million. More than half of this output is manufactured in Bursa. In a single decade, exports have risen fourfold, and domestic demand continues to grow steadily. With 864 439 vehicles sold, 2011 was a record year, marking a 13.61 percent increase on the previous year's sales.

Turkey is now home to several vehicle brands, including Fiat, Peugeot, Citroen, Renault and Ford, the German technology company noted. ContiTech's Turkish-based Fluid Technology business unit supplies Daimler Trucks and MAN with hose lines for hydraulic systems and fuel and cooling water distribution.

Each year, almost 250 employees manufacture some 1.5 million airsprings for fitting to trucks, trailers and buses, ContiTech said. Last year, sales rose by 25 percent, the company claimed.

ContiTech added that additional investments in Turkey until 2016 will increase volumes further and that the company sees great potential in the country.

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News release from ContiTech