Titel-Trader 1.2011.indd - Agritechnica Trader

Work on a dry and dusty fi eld: Erkunt-Tractor focused chiefl y on the Turkish market in its early
years.
worked through. The qualifi cations
of the engineers engaged
in quality management sound
like Asian martial arts skills.
Erkunt has over eight bearers of
the Black Belt and 17 bearers of
the Green Belt in the Sigma 6
designations.
Around 1,000 staff, including
200 administrative staff, work at
four plant locations on the outskirts
of Ankara and achieve annual
revenues of a good 75 million
Euros. Further growth is
already planned. Tuna Armagan
tells us with evident pride of a
recently signed agreement with
Kölner Deutz AG. As of 2014,
Erkunt aims to supply 45,000
blocks for a 2.9 l diesel engine
made by Deutz every year. The
earthworks for the new production
plant on the Erkunt site
have already started.
From foundry to
tractor assembly
As supplier to the agricultural
machinery industry, the company
got to know this branch
very intensively. As a foundry it
works closely with engine, transmission
and axle manufactures.
About 40 per cent of a tractor
weight is accounted for by
the castings. However, it is distinctly
more attractive to sell the
value of the iron casting in the
form of a ready-assembled tractor
than to simply sell the raw
engine blocks to an engine factory.
And so the decision ripened
in Ankara to build up an
in-house tractor production
sector. In the newly established
subsidiary Erkunt Tractor, engineers
began with development
work seven years ago. Foundry
customers such as Carraro, ZF
and Perkins now advanced to
become suppliers to the young
tractor builder.
There is no purely national
tractor production in Turkey.
Alongside John Deere who operate
their own plant there, tractors
are produced under license
from New Holland and Massey
Ferguson.
On average 25,000 to 30,000
units a year are sold in Turkey.
John Deere heads the licensing
statistics, followed by New
Holland and Massey Ferguson.
There are some 10 million farmers
in Turkey, mainly small farms
and subsistence farmers. The
top-selling category comprises
tractors in the 50 to 85 hp
range. With the Erkunt Tractor
the fi rst machine from a Turkish
manufacturer made its appearance
on the fi elds in this country
lying between Europe and Asia.
The fi rst Erkunt Tractor left the
COMPANIES AND MARKETS
production line in September
2004. The market launch started
with a range of four models,
technically adapted to the requirements
of Turkish farmers.
“Turkish farmers display national
awareness when they buy machines”,
explains Sales Manager
Haluk Armagan. Alongside very
solid execution with engines
from Perkins, transmissions and
axles from Carraro,
and series names such
as “Kismet” (Happiness)
and “Beriket”
(Blessings), the newcomers
gained market
shares more quickly
than their competitors
had expected.
A small blue-black
glass bead decorates
the radiator grille of
each Erkunt tractor.
According to Turkish
mythology, it sym-
bolises the eye that
watches over evil.
This symbol is frequently
encountered
in Turkey, as jewellery
in the form of a
pendant, or at house entrances
to bring luck.
Family ties
Altogether 70 dealers with
200 service bases between the
Bosporus and Eastern Anatolia
now belong to the family of
Erkunt Tractor sellers. In the
year 2005 Erkunt Tractor built
a brand-new tractor assembly
plant on a 35,000 m 2 site on the
outskirts of Ankara. It employs
a workforce of 200, including
24 in the development segment
for now 40 tractor models. The
plant capacity in single-shift operation
is 4,000 tractors a year.
Between the market launch
and the end of 2010 altogether
10,000 Erkunt tractors will have
rolled onto the market.
Now the Turkish market
alone is not enough for a growing
tractor builder. Under the
name Armatrac, export activities
were therefore started in
2007. Armatrac comes from the
name of the owner’s family, Armagan,
that holds 55 per cent
of the company shares. Erkunt
boss Tuna Armagan won over
his brother Haluk to head the
export business. Haluk (57)
lived in the USA up to 2007,
where he headed his own software
companies with a staff of
60 specialising in the veterinary
sector. He had already sold his
fi rm successfully when his brother’s
call reached him. “I enjoy
building up something new” he
smiles in accent-free English.
Armatrac is proceeding along
two avenues in the export business.
As a Turkish manufacturer
it is strategically well placed be-
Erkunt boss Tuna Armagan (left) fi lled
his brother Haluk (right) with enthusiasm
for the tractor business.
tween the large agricultural machinery
markets of Western and
Central Europe and Asia Minor
and Africa. The products too
Continues on page 26
2011 | 1 | TRADER 25