Amid the hype at IAA Transportation about Chinese market entrants taking on the long-established Western European truck manufacturers, a household name in the automotive industry with a manufacturing and supply base in Türkiye has quietly been making an impression.
Ford Otosan, who produce Ford Trucks in Türkiye for markets in Europe, the Middle East and Asia, have recently expanded to new European countries, most recently Switzerland and the Netherlands. The company, which Ford Motor Company has a significant stake in, builds its trucks according to Ford protocols and has a number of high-profile clients, including Eddie Stobart Europe.
To get the inside track on the Ford Trucks operation and where the company believes its strengths lie, we took the chance to speak to Armagan Hazar, Regional Director of Ford Trucks for Central and Eastern Europe, the Middle East, Asia and Eurasia.
Where Ford Trucks has expanded and is expanding
First and foremost, we asked Hazar about Ford Trucks and where the company has a market presence. According to the Regional Director, the company is active in more than 50 countries, including many European nations.
Hazar also emphasized Ford Trucks’ plans to take a step-by-step approach to its market expansion, with the Nordics representing the next step:
“We currently operate in more than 50 countries. The latest countries we’ve started our operations in are Switzerland and Netherlands, where we started this year. So, we’ve already expanded to Western and Central Eastern Europe. The only exception is the North-East. We did enter the Danish market late last year, but we are yet to expand to the rest of the Nordics. We’re planning our expansion step-by-step, and we’ve purposely left the Nordics for a little later. The reason is because we want to be aligned with our product plans and cycle plans.”
Following the Nordics, Hazar revealed that Ford Trucks has an eye on the UK market:
“The UK will be the next phase, because of course they require a right-hand-drive version. This is something we plan to have for our next generation cabin. We are nonetheless in the process of establishing service locations in the UK that will cover after-sales business in the region.”
Ford Trucks and its relationship with the Ford Motor Company
We also took the opportunity to ask Hazar about the makeup of Ford Trucks, and its association with the Ford Motor Company. As he explained, Ford Motor Company has a significant stake in the operation:
“It’s important to highlight that we are not entirely a Turkish operation. It’s a global operation. Our vehicles are produced in 4 plants, 3 located in Türkiye and 1 is in Romania, but they are being shipped all around the world and they are being sold under the Ford Motor Company name. Ford Motor Company owns 41% of the shares and another 41% is owned by Court Group, which is the biggest holding group in Türkiye. It has a wide business portfolio including tourism, white goods, refineries, banking, automotive and more. They’re also a partner of FIAT; they produce tractors with New Holland.”
Hazar also stressed that the manufacturing process at Ford Trucks very much follows that used by Ford throughout the globe:
“So our operations, our manufacturing and production processes are the same as Ford’s global processes. We follow the same processes for the production system, for design and for engineering systems. So the production processes are no different from that of a Ford Transit or a Ford Courier. These heavy commercial vehicles are all very much Ford vehicles. Ford Otosan leads Ford Trucks marketing and product planning business operations.”
Photo: Trans.INFO
The factors that influence Ford Trucks’ product lineup
What ultimately influences the lineup of products that Ford Trucks has available to its customers? In Hazar’s view, regulations play a major role in shaping its range:
“Well, first and foremost, we definitely follow the regulations. The regulations are changing significantly and very fast. We are also following the customer trends in different countries. In each region or even in each country, the customer expectations are different. For example, you know Netherlands and Belgium may seem similar on paper, but the customer expectations for the heavy commercial vehicle are very different. So we’re also focusing on those customer expectations and planning our products accordingly.”
Türkiye’s strategic position for manufacturing and export
In recent years, much has been said about the attractiveness of Türkiye as a nearshoring location. The country is located on the borders of the European Union, and while not being inside the bloc, is part of the Customs Union.
IKEA, for example, has been among the big names to announce facilities and/or operations in Türkiye since the supply chain disruptions sparked by the pandemic.
Does this mean Ford Trucks’ base in Türkiye presents a competitive advantage? Hazar certainly seems to think so.
“Definitely. Location wise, we are in Europe. We’re not in the European Union, but we are in the Customs Union. We can also easily ship our trucks to all European countries; we have our own ports very close to Istanbul where we ship all the products that we produce. We produce medium and light commercial vehicles as well. In our plants and production facilities, we have the flexibility and the ability to ship all those units, including light commercial vehicles, commercial vans and trucks, to our port and onto vessels. That is a good advantage,” Ford Trucks’ Regional Director told Trans.INFO.
Besides Ford Trucks having its own manufacturing base in Türkiye and access to Turkish ports, Hazar stated that the company is also benefiting from a strong base of suppliers in Türkiye:
“The second thing is we’re also working very closely with suppliers. Since Türkiye is very strong in the automotive business, and in automotive manufacturing, we have very strong Tier 1 and Tier 2 suppliers, and even global suppliers, all of whom have production plants in Türkiye. That’s why we also have well managed supply chain processes as well, which is an advantage for the manufacturing process. And of course we still have as I explained, agile and flexible production capability. That is why we very quickly adapt our production plans according to the market conditions, customer demands and so on.”
Asked for an example of this happening, Hazar added:
“I can give you a very recent example regarding this topic. For example, during the COVID times, as you probably can remember, a lot of OEMs halted production. They couldn’t keep production going because of workforce issues or problems with their local suppliers. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine affected some OEMs as well. However, since we managed our supply chain process and production capabilities very well, as well as the engineering, we managed our truck manufacturing supply chain and met customer expectations. We performed much better than most of our competitors and other OEMs. This is also one of our strengths.”
Photo: Trans.INFO
Ford Trucks’ key selling point
So where does Ford Trucks believe its strengths lie compared to other manufacturers? Throughout our discussion, Hazar regularly cited flexibility, and his response to this question was no exception:
“The main selling point or competitive advantage is the agile and flexible solutions we can create for customers. We have our own engineering, we build our own engine, transmission, and rear-axle products. For example, a customer came to us and said they wanted extra-low liners. We were able to meet this request. So beyond the standard options, customers can also pick and choose a number of different customizations. We can manufacture tailor-made solutions in a very reasonable time. Yes many companies can offer tailor-made solutions, but the lead times will likely be much longer than ours.”
Besides flexibility, Hazar also told Trans.INFO of his belief that Ford Trucks is strong on price and total cost of ownership.
“The second thing is the total cost of ownership. Our products offer the same quality and the same options as most European brands while having a comparatively better price – we offer the full package. When you calculate the total cost of ownership, you don’t only look at the price. There’s the purchase price of the vehicle, and you calculate all other things like after sales services, fuel economy and so on. We are very strong in this area. Next year we’ll be presenting our next generation of trucks, which have around 11% better fuel efficiency. Those kinds of efficiencies we’ll continuously develop, which makes our total cost of ownership very attractive.”
Finally, the Regional Director claimed that Ford Trucks’ relationship with its distributors also makes it closer to its customers:
“Another plus is that we as a company are also very close to our customers. Normally OEMs, at least the major ones, are not that close to their end customers. They mostly run their business with their importers or dealers. They get customer requests through their dealer-distributor channel. We also run our international business through our importers and distributors, but at the same time together with our distributors.”