Ford Otosan opens engineering center

ISTANBUL - Reuters

Top executives push symbolic buttons marking the opening. AA photo

Ford Otosan is set to establish the largest engineering center of the Turkish automotive sector with an investment worth 60 million Turkish Liras, as a part of its boosting of research and development spending, the carmaker’s general manager has said.

Ford Otosan, a subsidiary of Turkish conglomerate Koç Holding, is aiming to increase its research and development spending from 260 million liras to more than 350 million liras this year with a 35 percent increase compared to last year, said Haydar Yenigün during the groundbreaking ceremony of the new engineering center in Istanbul on July 27.

Yenigün said they planned to make engineering work during more than 3 million hours a year in the new center, which will require a 60 million lira investment.

Koç Holding’s share in the Turkish private sector’s research and development spending is 10 percent, its chairman Ali Koç has said.

Ford Otosan is an equal partnership between Koç Holding and U.S. Ford Motors.