Ford Otosan JV Celebrates 50th Anniversary

American manufacturer Ford announced that one of its most successful joint ventures turns fifty today, with the celebration set to include Turkish federal, state and local government officials and cultural leaders, as well numerous Ford representatives. The Ford Otosan joint venture is currently building vehicles such as the Ford Transit, Ford Transit Connect and Cargo commercial vehicles.

“In many ways coming to Turkey is like a homecoming for me, because my family and my company have such strong and lasting bonds here. The Koç family and the Ford family have a special relationship that goes back more than 80 years,” Bill Ford, Ford executive chairman, said in a release.

“For Ford Motor Company, Ford Otosan represents not only the proud heritage of our past, but the bright promise of our future,” he added. ”It will be exciting to watch that future unfold.”

Ford Otosan operations include sales and marketing, engineering, manufacturing and parts distribution. Both the Ford Motor Company and the Koç Group hold a 41 percent stake in the joint venture each, with the remaining 18 percent held publicly on the Istanbul Stock Exchange.

The JV employs a total of about 7,600 workers at its manufacturing operations in Kocaeli and Inönü, its parts distribution center in Kartal and its engineering center in Gebze.

“Ford Otosan has an important role to play in Ford’s ongoing global commercial vehicle strategy, and is an integral part of our ONE Ford approach,” said Lewis Booth, Ford CFO. “Ford Otosan has a very bright future and we expect to fully leverage its production capacity in the years ahead.”

Ford Otosan products are exported from Turkey to more than 60 countries around the world, including markets in Europe, Central Asia, North Africa, the Middle East and North America.