Ford Otosan introduced Turkey’s first and only domestic gearbox with a ceremony held at its Eskişehir Factory. With the transmission investment started in 2018, the company; has become one of the few global truck manufacturers that develop and produce all three of the engine, axle and transmission.
Koç Holding Deputy Chairman of the Board of Directors and Ford Otosan Chairman of the Board of Directors Ali Y. Koç and Ford Otosan General Manager Haydar Yenigün and Ford Otosan employees attended.
The first and only local Ecotorq gearbox designed and developed by the company’s own engineers; It was prepared with an investment of 58 million euros and an R&D incentive of 13.5 million TL from TÜBİTAK. With this transmission, the company will increase the domestic rate of heavy commercial vehicles produced by Ford Trucks in Eskişehir to 90 percent.
Developed by 230 engineers, the first and only domestic gearbox has gone through 5 years of design, testing and development. Tests were carried out in different and challenging conditions on more than 1 million km of roads. With the new domestic transmission that emerged as a result of all these, Ford Trucks aims to increase Turkey’s competitiveness in heavy commercial vehicle production in the global market. In Turkey, it will contribute to the development of the sub-industry and supply ecosystem.
Domestic gearbox will participate in the competition in the international arena
Ford Otosan General Manager Haydar Yenigün stated that they continue to shape the future of the automotive industry as the only “Turkish automotive company” with the capabilities and infrastructure to completely design, develop and test a vehicle, including its engine, until it turns into a commercial product from scratch:
“As Ford Otosan, in our journey of more than 60 years, today, thanks to our engineering competencies and R&D power, we export the vehicles we produce in Turkey to different parts of the world, while the vehicles we have developed with the efforts of Turkish engineers make us proud. These successes are not accidental, of course. Behind the pride we experience today is our ongoing R&D studies and a giant engineering team.
Our production of Ecotorq Engine, the heart of our heavy commercial vehicles, which we first started in 2003 at our Eskişehir Plant, continues to grow. The rear axle, which is one of the important elements in heavy commercial vehicle production, has been developed by our engineers and produced since 2015. And today… Happily, our company is making another innovation with the first and only domestic Ecotorq gearbox developed entirely by Turkish engineers, from design to testing processes. With Turkey’s first and only domestic transmission, we will increase the domesticity rate of our heavy commercial vehicles to over 90 percent and contribute greatly to the competitiveness of our brand and our country in the international arena.”
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