Ford Otosan to establish battery factory in Turkey

By Abdulselam Durdak

ISTANBUL (AA) - Turkey-based automotive firm Ford Otosan -- a joint venture of Turkish Koc Holding and Ford -- started works to establish a battery assembly factory for electric vehicles in the industrial province of Kocaeli.

The firm, with its other plants in Kocaeli, will have the first integrated electric vehicle production facility in the country, Haydar Yenigun, the general manager, said during a virtual meeting.

The battery assembly factory will be completed in 2022, he noted.

Previously, the firm produced Turkey's first electric commercial vehicle -- Custom PHEV -- and currently assuming the production of Ford's electric commercial vehicle E-Transit, Yenigun recalled.

He also said Ford Otosan is one of the largest investors in the country with €2.5 billion (around $3.08 billion) investments, of which €56 million ($67.5 million) was in electric car production, in the last decade.

* Writing by Gokhan Ergocun.