The Sabah daily quoted Ali Bilaloğlu, CEO of the German carmaker's Turkey distributor, Doğuş Otomotiv, as saying on Monday that a working group has carried out “serious” studies to eventually establish a facility to produce Volkswagen cars in Turkey. Recalling that they first brought the issue to the Volkswagen agenda in 2005, Bilaloğlu said the anticipated government incentives for the automotive industry in Turkey have encouraged the German firm even more to invest in Turkey. “We have a working group comprising officials from our company, Volkswagen, and the Investment Support and Promotion Agency of Turkey [ISPAT]. … The government's determination to attract new auto investments will play a significant role in convincing Volkswagen,” he explained.
The government is expected to introduce a series of new incentive packages for separate sectors in Turkey before the end of February. Market representatives have expressed the hope that the new incentives will boost investments in the automotive industry.
Bilaloğlu said Volkswagen's growing sales figures in Turkey were another motivation for the German manufacturer. Volkswagen sold 81,911 passenger and commercial vehicle units in Turkey in 2011, data from the Automotive Distributors' Association (ODD) show.
On a separate note, Doğuş Otomotiv executive board director Aclan Acar said Volkswagen will release a report on their studies for a possible investment in Turkey in March. Acar on Monday said the planned facility could have an annual production capacity of 250,000 units. “Their [Volkswagen's] Russian plant manufactures some 400,000 units per year. … That is its full capacity; the Turkish plant could produce more than one [Volkswagen] model with an approximate capacity of 250,000,” he noted.
The world's second largest carmaker, Volkswagen sold 8.1 million units last year and expects to increase this number to 10 million in 2018. The company has set its eyes on new production facilities in such fast growing markets as China, India, Turkey and Russia. Turkey was the world's 17th largest car producer in 2011. The country produced 1.19 million units last year, surpassing all records for its automotive industry.
