Volkswagen establishes Turkey unit

ANKARA

Volkswagen established a production firm in Manisa, an Aegean province of Turkey, amid reports that the German automotive giant was about to take a decision on the location for its new factory outside Germany.

The firm - Volkswagen Turkey Otomotiv Sanayi ve Ticaret A.S. - was established with a capital of 943.5 million Turkish Liras ($164.46 million), according to the Turkish Trade Registry Gazette yesterday.

The company in western Turkey was founded to design, produce, assemble, sell, import and export automobiles, trucks and all sorts of motor and transport vehicles and their parts and components, the gazette said.

Jens Kellerbach and Jurger Unser are board members of the company.

Prominent automotive manufacturers including Fiat, Ford, Honda, Hyundai, Mercedes, Renault, and Toyota have manufacturing operations in Turkey, which is among the world’s top auto sale markets.

The latest data from the ODD showed that Volkswagen sold a total of 28,807 vehicles in Turkey in January-September.

The German carmaker sold 23,324 passenger cars and 5,483 commercial vehicles in the first nine months of the year.