Stuttgart/Hoşdere - Dr. Dieter Zetsche, Chairman of the DaimlerChrysler Board of Management and Head of the Mercedes Car Group, Andreas Renschler, Board of Management Member responsible for the Truck Group & Buses, Jürgen Ziegler, President and CEO of Mercedes-Benz Türk, and more than 3,000 employees in Hoşdere, Turkey, today celebrated the 40th anniversary of Mercedes-Benz Türk.

Dr. Dieter Zetsche said: “For four decades, Mercedes-Benz Türk has played an increasingly important role in our company’s success. It is an integral part of our global Truck and Bus operations. It has also made substantial contributions in developing the Turkish automotive industry into the strong player it is today.”

Mercedes-Benz Türk was founded in Istanbul in 1967 under the name "Otomarsan". The company started the production of 0 302 type buses in 1968. Only two years after its foundation, the company started to export and was appointed the general representative of Mercedes-Benz in Turkey in 1984. In 1986, the Mercedes-Benz truck plant started production in Aksaray, Central Anatolia.

Since its beginnings, Mercedes-Benz Türk has invested more than € 500 million and is today among the largest foreign companies in Turkey.

Mercedes-Benz Türk produces city buses and coaches at the Hoşdere Bus Plant in Istanbul and light, medium and heavy duty trucks at the Aksaray Truck Plant.

İn 2006, the company sold 26,900 buses and trucks - an increase of 350% in sales since 2001. Over 24% of heavy trucks and more than 64% of all buses in Turkey were produced by Mercedes-Benz Türk last year. In addition, the company exports buses to over 70 and trucks to 56 countries - mainly to Western Europe.

Andreas Renschler emphasized: “With the products built here at Mercedes-Benz Türk we can look back on four decades of leadership in the bus market, and are number one in the truck market since five years. Our plants in Aksaray and Hoşdere are key locations in our global productıon network. We are very proud of their success story and our 4,200 highly dedicated employees.”

The company, which also imports and sells Mercedes-Benz vans and all passenger car brands of the Mercedes Car Group (Mercedes-Benz, smart, Maybach), ranked 15th amongst largest Turkish companies and 9th amongst highest corporate tax payers in Istanbul in 2006. Mercedes-Benz Türk employs 4,250 people; a further 2,500 people are employed in its nationwide dealer and customer service network.

Beyond its activities in the automotive industry, Mercedes-Benz Türk sponsors projects in areas of sports and culture. The company continues to run its award-winning educational social responsibility project for young women “Every Girl is a Star”.

The Mercedes-Benz Türk A.Ş. Head Office, located in Davutpaşa since 1967, moved to its brand new location in Istanbul/Bahçeşehir at the end of August 2007.

The Hoşdere Bus Plant, which was inaugurated in 1995, is still one of the most modern bus production factories in the world and employs around 2,200 employees. The plant produces the Travego, Intouro and the new Tourismo coaches as well as the new city-bus Conecto. Today, the Hoşdere Plant, which has a production capacity of 4,000 vehicles a year, has 127,000 m² of covered area built on a total of 360,000 m² of land.

Mercedes-Benz Türk’s truck plant in the province of Aksaray started production in 1986. Employing around 1,350 people, the Aksaray plant produces light and heavy trucks in the Mercedes-Benz Atego and Axor series, semitrailer tractors, construction vehicles and the Unimog U 4000, as well as commercial vehicle components. Covering an area of 78,600 m² built on a total of 558,117 m² of land, the plant currently produces 12,500 trucks and Unimog, and is constantly expanding.