Automotive Exports December 2019

Aluminum engine blocks to be manufactured at
Bursa plant for the first time
Renault Turkey will manufacture
aluminum engine blocks for the
first time in Turkey. In doing so, it
will become the only hybrid engine
production facility in Europe, Industry
and Technology Minister Mustafa
Varank said. Speaking at a program
at the factory’s test production
site in Bursa, Varank said engines
manufactured in Turkey will be exported
to China, Spain and the U.K.
He noted that the 10,500 square meter
facility has the latest machines and
employs more than 100 qualified
engineers and operators.
Despite facing all kinds of challenges,
the Turkish economy is on track, he
said, adding that the aluminum will be
supplied by domestic manufacturers,
meaning the facility will make sure the
efficient use of domestic resources.
“The contribution this facility has made
in reducing the current account deficit,
providing employment and improving
exports, is truly commendable,” he said.
He added that Turkey wants to see
Renault produce hybrid vehicles here in
the country and export them.
Also present at the program, Antoine
Aoun, director general of Oyak Renault
Turkey, said: “We have completed the
production center in a very short time,
as promised. We will reach the final
stage of mass production in 2020.”
The engines produced at Oyak
Renault’s plant in Bursa are sold to
15 factories in 12 different countries,
including the production centers of
brands like Nissan.
Varank said the engines produced at
the plant are exported. He added that
the factory has taken advantage of the
government’s investment incentives
and developed and expanded its engine
production capacity.
Pointing out that the company
contributes to reducing the current
account deficit with its exports, the
minister stated: “By producing and
exporting hybrid vehicles, the factory
will make further contributions
to reducing the current account
deficit. It is gratifying for us that the
capability has been developed and the
government incentives have been taken
advantage of in the most effective way.”
Renault Mechanical and Chassis
Production Director Yavuz Özbağrıaçık
said the factory in Bursa is one of
Renault’s three factories that produce
both vehicles and mechanical parts.
Özbağrıaçık pointed out that the factory,
where construction began last year,
is fully integrated. “We can produce
920,000 engines at this factory. We
have two big engine lines. Besides, we
produce four large parts, known as vital
parts.”
He underlined that they are the only
such factory in Turkey. Özbağrıaçık said
they continue to work on building hybrid
engines. The factory, which has so far
produced 200 engines, aims to increase
the local content ratio in these products
to over 50%.
December 2019
24