Turkey’s Ford Otosan secures 150 million-euro EBRD loan

ISTANBUL

Turkey’s automotive maker Ford Otosan has signed a 150 million-euro loan agreement with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) to finance projects in the near future. 

The company, a joint venture between Ford Motor Co. and Turkey’s Koç Holding, first announced their talks on March 23. “As a result of the positive outcome of the negotiations, the loan agreement was signed [April 25],” said the company in a statement to the Public Disclosure Platform (KAP).  

The loan has a seven-year term with a three-year grace period, it added. 

The infusion of cash is expected to finance improvements to the carmaker’s commercial vans. 

The EBRD’s loan will enable the company to introduce styling changes and add current technology features to its commercial vehicles and improve production processes, the EBRD said in a press release late on April 25.  
 
Under the project, Ford Otosan, one of the leading industrial companies in Turkey and the largest employer in the country’s automotive industry, will also strengthen its focus on employment and the training of young people, according to the EBRD release. 

The EBRD’s cooperation with Ford Otosan dates back to 2010 when the EBRD financed the development of new commercial vehicle models as part of the firm’s “new Transit project.” The EBRD has also financed the development of a high-tech truck engine, Ecotorq, and the expansion of Ford Otosan’s truck production capacity, while providing greater employment opportunities for women. To date, the EBRD has supported Ford Otosan with loans worth a total of 290 million euros, more than half of which have been mobilized from commercial banks under the EBRD’s A/B loan structure.

Turkey’s top exporter, Ford Otosan, was established in its current form in 1997 and is the largest production hub for Ford commercial vehicles in Europe (81 percent of Transit range vehicles sold in Europe in 2016 were manufactured by Ford Otosan), according to the EBRD release. 

The Istanbul-based firm operates from three main locations (plants and R&D centers) across the country and employs more than 10,000 people.