Turkish firm to produce for Mercedes

ISTANBUL - Hürriyet

Turkey’s HEMA Endüstri, a subsidiary of Hattat Holding, has decided to bring a Düsseldorf plant acquired from ThysenKrupp to Turkey, where it will produce power steering wheels for Mercedes Benz, executives announced yesterday.

HEMA had signed a deal at the beginning of 2012 to buy the Düsseldorf plant managed by ThysenKrupp.
HEMA Endüstri invested $70 million for the plant, not including the purchase price, and aims to complete its move to Turkey within six months. It plans to start manufacturing of the plant in the northwestern province of Tekirdağ by the end of 2013, promising to create 1,000 jobs.

Target: 150,000 products

Hattat Holding Chairman İbrahim Hattat told daily Hürriyet that HEMA manufactures hydraulic systems, transmission and motor units, and it was set to increase its manufacturing capacity from 30,000 steering wheels to 100,000 as of 2016, and 150,000 by 2018 at the new plant.

Hattat stated that Chinese enterprises were also bidding to purchase the plant, but Daimler Group, the owner of Mercedes Benz, put pressure on ThysenKrupp to let HEMA own it, despite the fact that their offer was lower than the Chinese ones.