ESBAS Executive Board Chairman Guler said, “The new factory, whose investment has started in our region, is also of strategic importance in the production of Turkey’s automobile TOGG’s electric models.”
Faruk Guler, Chairman of the Executive Board of Aegean Free Zone Founder and Operator Inc. (ESBAS), stated that the Italian Eldor Group’s decision to make a new investment in electric vehicle systems in the Aegean Free Zone is also of strategic importance for Turkey’s automobile projects, and that they aim to become a center of attraction in this field with new investments.
Speaking to Anadolu Agency (AA), Guler pointed out that the President’s Decree was taken on March 20 for the project-based state aid for the electrical vehicle systems production facility investment in Izmir to Eldor company, and said that an investment of ₺810 million would pave the way for other investments in this field.
Noting that Eldor, which started operating in the Aegean Free Zone in 1998, employed 1750 people in three facilities in the region, realized a trade volume of $270 million and did not interrupt its investments despite the epidemic, Guler stated that the company, which initially produced for the electronics sector, has shifted its production to the automotive sector since 2004.
Noting that the company that manufactures for the world’s leading automotive brands has also been doing R&D work on electrical automotive systems for many years, he stated that a facility will be established in the Aegean Free Zone, which is designated as the production address of these technologies, on an open area of 25 thousand square meters and a closed area of 9 thousand square meters, and new employment for 700 people will be provided.
Guler stated that the facility will have a production capacity of 200,000 DC-DC converters, 200,000 battery charging units, 800,000 energy management modules and 75,000 HV starter motors annually for electric cars.
“The factory whose investment has started is of strategic importance”
Emphasizing that the Turkish automotive supplier industry, which exported $9 billion 373 million last year, should rapidly gain the ability to be a supplier in the production of electrical automotive systems in order not to lose this market share, Guler said that supporting investments in this field would be extremely beneficial for the future of the industry.
He added saying, “The new factory, the investment of which has started in our region, is also of strategic importance in the production of Turkey’s automobile, TOGG’s electric models.”
Guler stated that Ford’s decision to produce electric commercial vehicles at its production facility in Kocaeli is also of critical importance, adding that he thinks other automobile manufacturers will follow.
The biggest investment is to Turkey
Pointing out that Eldor has factories in Italy, USA, China and Brazil also producing for the automotive sector, Guler emphasized that the company decided to make its biggest investment in Turkey.
Underlining that the company has an important place in the production of automotive spare parts in the world, Guler made the following evaluations:
“It is a pride for us that they prefer the Aegean Free Zone for the production of electric vehicle systems, which is a new technology. We congratulate them wholeheartedly and wish their successful work to continue increasingly. It was included in the scope of project-based support for an investment for the first time in the Aegean Free Zone, where many large international companies from the automotive sector produce. Our free zone will become a powerful center of attraction in the production of electric vehicle systems with ongoing and future new investments.”
Source: AA / Translated by Irem Yildiz