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DÜNYA Newspaper – 02.10.2009
SAFKAR AIR-CONDITIONERS FOR COMMERCIAL VEHICLES TO BE DISTRIBUTED IN GERMANY
Having become financially stronger upon the takeover of its entire stock by Abaş Prefabrik, Ege Soğutmacılık PLC is structuring itself in international markets to realize its aspiration to world leadership in its field. The manufacturer of SAFKAR and PENGUEN, Turkey’s well-known brands in air-conditioners for commercial vehicles, the company will kick off its first investment toward this goal with a large distribution center to be established in Germany.
SAFKAR GEARS UP FOR WORLD LEADERSHIP
One of the four major manufacturers of air-conditioners for commercial vehicles in the world with its SAFKAR brand, Ege Soğutmacılık PLC has its sights trained on global leadership. The company is going to open a distribution center in Germany to support this objective.
Having become financially stronger upon the takeover of its entire stock by Abaş Prefabrik and setting itself the ambitious goal of world leadership, Ege Soğutmacılık PLC is strengthening its organization in international markets to realize its aspiration.
The manufacturer of SAFKAR and PENGUEN, Turkey’s powerful brands in air-conditioners for commercial vehicles, Ege Soğutmacılık PLC will kick off its first investment in this field with a large distribution center to be established in Germany. Looking to have as widespread a network in spare parts and services in Europe as in Turkey, the company plans to get the chance to produce directly for the major manufacturers of commercial vehicles in Europe by means of this investment.
Announcing they were going to open a large distribution center in Germany by the end of the year to provide more effective after-sales services in Europe as a short-term goal, Ege Soğutmacılık Hava Tesisleri İthalat İhracat San. ve Tic. A.Ş. General Manager Doruk Aydın stressed that the center would give SAFKAR the chance to become a natural partner with the major manufacturers of commercial vehicles in Europe in the field of climatizing. Affirming that the distribution center in Germany was definitely going to be opened in 2009, Aydın said, “This center will give us greater strength particularly in spare parts and product distribution. This investment will reinforce our ties with the basic manufacturers in Turkey, as well, because we’re asked to meet the requirement of running a powerful service network in Europe simply in order to sell our products to BMC that manufactures in the same Turkish city as we do. We assume the responsibility for providing spare parts and service for an air-conditioner we mount on a commercial vehicle for as long as that vehicle remains serviceable.”
Underlining the fact that Ege Soğutmacılık with its SAFKAR brand was one of the four major manufacturers of air-conditioners for commercial vehicles in the world, Aydın said commercial vehicles fitted with SAFKAR brand air-conditioners were exported to many countries in all continents and consequently the company had to open up to the world in establishing a spare parts and service network in order to keep moving towards its goal of gaining power on a global scale. “Strength in after-sales services is very important besides the capability of designing products. Therefore, you’ll be one step ahead of the competition if you open up to the world in establishing a spare parts and service network. If a company defined limits to itself, it would be narrowing its horizons. Companies like us ought to view their customers as partners by mentality. We work with 96 dealers in 27 countries and export directly to 33. We aim to grow as widespread and dominant in the Middle Eastern and North African markets where we’re already strong as we are in Turkey. 70 percent of the commercial vehicles manufactured in Turkey are exported. One out of every two imported vehicles is sold to Europe. 20 percent of SAFKAR’s products are exported directly,” Aydın commented.
Business volume to grow with new areas added
Stating they had an optimistic outlook on what 2010 would bring, Doruk Aydın said, “Now that we’re financially on solid ground, we’re going to march toward our clear objectives with all our energy. We’re planning to get into new business areas and increase our business volume next year with the aim of being a company that fulfils the expectations of its customer as a teammate. Turkey is a highly important market for our industry. The upcoming obligation to transport all food products in a cold chain in compliance with the legislation related to harmonizing Turkish laws with the European Union alone is enough to demonstrate how high a development potential the market we’re addressing has.”
60-person R&D center
Announcing that the 60-person R&D center Ege Soğutmacılık established was approved by the Scientific & Technological Research Council of Turkey (TÜBİTAK), Doruk Aydın said they basically aimed to become a company that established its own professional management systems and developed its own know-how with the help of this investment among other things, a company that invested in people and products. Aydın noted that Turkey was the largest manufacturer of buses, second largest in light commercial vehicles, and eighth in trucks; commenting that this power of Turkey in the industry afforded companies the chance to grow to global dimensions. “SAFKAR’s strong R&D capability, its use of Turkey’s competitive production assets to advantage, its close proximity to core bus and midibus hubs in Europe, the scarcity of companies to partner with basic automotive firms like SAFKAR, and SAFKAR’s being highly perceived as a brand and a service provider are attributes that make SAFKAR stand out from its competitors,” Aydın said.
Stating that his goal as a new manager at the helm of the company was to institutionalize these superior qualities of SAFKAR and make it a natural partner with automotive manufacturers in Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa, Aydın said, “We’ll instill in the basic manufacturers the conviction that they can get solutions for their climatization systems in the most advanced and smoothest manner from SAFKAR and get them to think of no other firm but us as their natural partner when they need one. We’ll build this power upon design proficiency, a strong servicing network, and R&D testing capability.”
Doruk Aydın pointed out that Ege Soğutmacılık PLC worked with a total of 180 suppliers to procure the 10,800 parts it uses in the manufacture of SAFKAR and PENGUEN brand air-conditioners for commercial vehicles. “We will strengthen our chain of supply and blend it with the constant development of our production culture. We will expand our service and dealer network in the global sense as a customer-centered firm with a focus on problems, one that keeps a close watch on the developments in the world,” he said.
Train air-conditioners for Malaysia and Iran
Declaring that Ege Soğutmacılık PLC had come a long way in becoming a powerful partner in train air-conditioners, Aydın reported that the company exported air-conditioners for trains and buses to Malaysia and Iran. Aydın said the basic industrialists in these two countries were among SAFKAR’s major customers, noting that selling directly to the basic producers in these markets demonstrated the international power of the SAFKAR brand.
Stating that there was plenty of hope for the industry in the long term although the economic crisis had caused the automotive market to shrink in Turkey and abroad, Aydın said, “Even though the crisis has shrunk the market, the long-term trend is always upward in the automotive industry. Such recessions do impact the industry for a year or two. We haven’t lost our dynamism and our eagerness to go for broader markets as a partner. Our sector is growing. Air-conditioners are no longer a luxury but a requisite on commercial and public transportation vehicles. Local governments are making it mandatory to have public transportation vehicles fitted with air-conditioners. That goes for minibuses, too. We can manufacture air-conditioners with different features for the buses used in public transportation in Antalya and those used in Erzurum. That is an important value added for our company. Our competitors offer their customers what is available in their portfolios. We, on the other hand, keep developing our product portfolio constantly. Great investments have been made in the SAFKAR brand for trains. We took part in the Turkish Railways’ modernization.”
