Mercedes-Benz Trucks’ Turkey plant rolls out 200,000th truck

There were cheers at the Mercedes-Benz plant in Aksaray when the 200,000th truck built at the facility rolled off the assembly line yesterday. The plant’s employees celebrated the milestone together with Dr. Wolfgang Bernhard, member of the Daimler AG Board of Management with responsibility for Daimler Trucks & Buses, Stefan Buchner, Head of Mercedes-Benz Trucks, Gerald Jank Head of Production Mercedes-Benz Trucks, Rainer Genes, Head of Mercedes-Benz Türk, and Klaus Pfeifer, Plant Manager in Aksaray.

Turkey is the world’s third-largest sales market for Mercedes-Benz Trucks after Brazil and Germany. Mercedes-Benz Trucks sold roughly 17,000 units in Turkey in 2013. “The Aksaray plant is a key component of our Mercedes-Benz Trucks production network,” said the head of Mercedes-Benz Trucks, Stefan Buchner. “The milestone we’re celebrating today underscores that fact: 200,000 trucks — that also means 200,000 vehicles in top Mercedes-Benz quality thanks to our highly qualified and dedicated employees. I’m confident that this will allow us to continue our success story in Aksaray.”

About €310 million (Rs 2,406 crore) has been invested in the Aksaray plant since 1986. Most recently, € 20 million were spent there to construct a new production hall that will add a further 10,000 square metres to the plant’s production area and increase annual production capacity to 17,500 units.

“Our plant in Aksaray is one of the most modern of its kind,” said Rainer Genes. “We’ve invested extensively in the facility and in the further training of our employees over the last few years. For me, this not only clearly demonstrates our commitment to this location; it’s also primarily a symbol of our intent to safeguard our future, since the only way we can remain successful over the long term is with a highly-qualified and dedicated team such as the one we have here in Aksaray.”

Mercedes-Benz Türk was established in Istanbul in 1967. It began producing buses for the Turkish market in 1968. In 1986, the Aksaray plant, located 230km southeast of the Turkish capital Ankara, launched production of trucks. Over the years, it developed into a key industrial facility and became the most important employer in the region. Today, the plant manufactures Actros, Axor, and Atego trucks using state-of-the-art production systems. Most of the trucks it builds are sold in Turkey.