•  Production capacity for Transit, Transit Custom and Tourneo Custom models is being increased to satisfy growing customer demand in Europe
• Ford Otosan joint venture invests $52 million in Kocaeli manufacturing site, Turkey, to expand production by 40,000 units to 330,000 vehicles per year – a more than 12 per cent increase
• Ford is Europe’s No.1 selling commercial vehicle brand with 13.3 per cent share in the first seven months of 2017, fuelled by demand for latest generation Transit models
• New Transit Custom and Tourneo Custom models to launch later this year; advanced Plug-in Hybrid version to follow in 2019

The production capacity for Transit, Transit Custom and Tourneo Custom models is being increased to meet accelerating demand for the market-leading commercial vehicles.*

Ford Otosan – Ford Motor Company’s joint venture with Koç Holding in Turkey – is investing $52 million to expand production at the Gölcük facility in the Kocaeli province of Turkey, increasing capacity by 40,000 units to 330,000 vehicles per year – a more than 12 per cent increase.

“Ford is setting the pace in the European commercial vehicle market, with the larger Transit models generating record levels of sales,” said Linda Cash, vice president manufacturing, Ford of Europe. “This strategic investment by Ford Otosan will enable us to keep pace with customer demand – particularly as innovations like the Transit Custom Plug-in Hybrid come on stream in 2019 and beyond.”

Ford is Europe’s No.1 selling commercial vehicle brand, a position built on the success of the latest generation of Transit vehicles, led by the 2-tonne Transit and 1-tonne Transit Custom models.

With the introduction of the latest Transit family, Ford has risen from the No.7 ranked commercial vehicle brand in Europe in 2012, to the top-selling position in 2015 and 2016, with market share rising from 8.5 per cent to 13.2 per cent last year.

This success has continued into 2017, with Ford commercial vehicle sales growing more than 9 per cent in the first seven months of the year, and market share increasing further to 13.3 per cent.

To help satisfy this growing demand, the additional capacity in Kocaeli is scheduled to go live in September 2018, and will be achieved through an increased number of robots in body construction, an extension to the paint shop, and increased line speed in the assembly operations.

“This major investment reinforces the position of the Kocaeli plant as a key manufacturing hub for commercial vehicles for Ford in Europe,” said Haydar Yenigun, general manager, Ford Otosan. “With our continuing focus on quality and efficiency, we remain ideally placed to support Ford’s commercial vehicle business as it goes from strength to strength.”

Earlier in 2017, Ford announced that a new Transit Custom model will enter production later in the year for customer delivery in early 2018, to be joined by a new Plug-in Hybrid (PHEV) derivative in 2019. A 12-month fleet customer trial of 20 PHEV vehicles is starting in London, U.K., from late 2017.

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* Ford of Europe reports its sales for the 20 European main markets where it is represented through National Sales Companies.  The Euro 20 markets are: Austria, Belgium, Britain, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Romania, Sweden and Switzerland.

Additional Transit Custom and Tourneo Custom images are available here
http://tourneocustom.fordpresskits.com/
http://transitcustom.fordpresskits.com/