Ford Otosan General Manager Haydar Yenigün said: "We are seeing the return for our product and facility investments and we are awarded by our customers with leadership. Our goal is to be the leader of the tractor truck market, just as we are in the construction and road trucks. In September, our new tractor truck will be globally launched at the Hannover International Commercial Vehicles Fair in Germany and this model is highly important for our international growth strategy."

Ford Otosan's heavy commercial vehicle brand Ford Trucks has pre-launched its new tractor truck that has been developed for international long-distance transportation. Ford Otosan General Manager Haydar Yenigün, Ford Otosan Deputy General Manager Lisa King, Ford Otosan Deputy General Manager Responsible for Product Development Burak Gökçelik and Ford Trucks Deputy General Manager Serhan Turfan have attended the ceremony held at Ford Otosan's R&D Centre in İstanbul.

Ford Trucks will launch its new tractor truck in October and 1.200 Ford Otosan engineers have worked throughout the model's 5-year development from initial design to production. The new tractor has been developed to meet the expectation and demands of Ford Trucks customers in both Turkey and global markets at the maximum possible level. The model will provide added value for the Turkish economy.

While forming the basis for its new tractor truck, Ford Trucks has listened to its domestic and foreign customers and from top to bottom, it has developed a brand-new tractor truck for different market conditions. Throughout the development process, 900 drivers and 44 fleet managers have been consulted during the field tests in 5 countries including Turkey. The tractor has been test driven for a total of 5 million kilometres in 11 countries on 4 continents.

Haydar Yenigün: "We Derive Our Power from Our Domestic Production Rate of 89%"

In his speech at the ceremony, Ford Otosan General Manager Haydar Yenigün has stated that they once again set out on a brand journey in 2010 with Ford Trucks and that their strategy on this journey was to carry the knowledge and experience of the Turkish market to an international level and said: "With Ford Trucks brand, we took the first step in Turkey by completing our completely heavy commercial vehicle exclusive and highly modern dealership structure with 30 plaza buildings. While establishing our dealership structure in Turkey, we continued to strengthen our Ford Trucks brand in international markets. After the Middle East, Africa, Russia and Turkic Republics, we continued our growth with our dealership inauguration in Eastern Europe. As of today, we operate in 32 countries. Our goal is to have a presence in 40 countries by the end of 2018, and in 50 countries by the end of 2020. As part of our global growth strategy, the main factor that helps us shine out among the competition is our domestic design and production capability. We derive our power that allowed us to come to this point in such a short notice, from our domestic production rate of 89%."

"The First and Only Heavy Commercial Vehicle Engine Developed and Manufactured in Turkey"

Yenigün has underlined that they took their competence to a whole new level by developing the Ecotorq engine, of which Ford Otosan owns 100% of the intellectual and industrial property rights. He said: "We have introduced our Ecotorq engine in 2016 with an investment of over 100 million dollars and it has become the first and only heavy commercial vehicle engine developed and manufactured in Turkey. Our new Ecotorq engine has been highly acclaimed by our European customers in terms of especially its performance and fuel consumption. As one of the important issues in the production of heavy commercial vehicles, the rear axle has been developed by our engineers and its production began in 2015. Yet again, Ford Otosan lies behind the first domestic transmission of Turkey. This year, we began our research for producing a domestic transmission with a 49.5 million Euro investment. In 2019, we aim to complete our development process and use our own production transmissions on our trucks as of 2020. With our new transmission, our domestic production rate shall rise even more. However, we didn't just invest in these products but also in our testing and production facilities to improve our domestic production rate, which also means our competitivity. We have inaugurated the only test centre in Europe for Ford heavy commercial vehicles at our İnönü factory. This allows us to conduct many tests that we used to conduct in Europe, in our own facilities. Our paint shop has been designed by our engineers and equipped with new technologies. We have established the workshop with a 15 million Euro investment. Again, we have achieved efficiency in production with our new cabin production line at İnönü factory."

"Our Goal Is to Become the Leader of The Tractor Market"

Yenigün has indicated that Ford Trucks has been the leader of the road truck segment for many years and that they are highly proud that one out of every two road trucks come from Ford Trucks. He continued: "We are seeing the return for our product and facility investments and we are awarded by our customers with leadership. With our 2016 model year launch, our construction series vehicles have become indispensable for Turkey's rising construction sector. From the biggest projects to the harshest construction site conditions, we have become the top choice in every region of Turkey. We can gladly state that Ford Trucks construction vehicles are the leader of the segment with 39%. With the acceptance of our domestic transportation tractor trucks in the market, we have achieved our biggest marketshare to date and reached 17%. Our goal is to be the leader of the tractor truck market, just as we are in the construction and road trucks. In September, our new tractor truck will be globally launched at the Hannover International Commercial Vehicles Fair in Germany and this model is highly important for our international growth strategy. We have inaugurated over 60 dealerships and service points in Russia, Africa, Middle East and Europe for our new tractor truck that has been launched in the global market with our motto, 'Sharing the Load'. We make our customers feel that we stand by their side, all across the world. Among 7 European brands, we want Ford Trucks to take its place as the 8th European brand that set out from Turkey."

Serhan Turfan: "We Focus on The Technologies of the Future on Our New Tractor"

Ford Trucks Deputy General Manager Serhan Turfan has also made a speech at the ceremony. Turfan has stated that they have redesigned their new tractor truck down to every detail and continued: "Thanks to its power and performance, our new tractor truck has successfully completed the tests under very harsh climate and terrain conditions. Our new tractor offers a combination of innovation, professionalism and a modern design language based on prestige and power. Comfort, efficiency and technology are the most important characteristics of our product. Our new cabin can reach a width of 2.5 meters, offering the level of comfort and spaciousness that users require on long distances. Our new tractor is even more efficient with its high levels of performance and 500 PS engine. It will become a strong player among the competition in the sector. Thanks to advantages like fuel economy, low maintenance and operating costs, our tractor will significantly reduce the total cost of ownership. We focus on the technologies of the future on our new tractor. As part of ConnecTruck, we ensure that users are integrated with their vehicles, their companies and the entire outside world. With new technologies like map-based cruise control and a multimedia system that will not only make life easier for drivers but also fleet managers, our vehicle will shine out as the optimal choice. We believe that our new product will not only make significant contribution to Ford Otosan but also to the Turkish automotive sector."