Koç Holding YK Başkan Vekili Ali Y. Koç, Amerikan Şirketler Derneği’nin ödül töreninde konuştu

I greet everyone with love and respect. Last year we were together at the American Companies Association award ceremony. But due to the extraordinary conditions of the past year, we have become accustomed to events and meetings held in digital environments. Hopefully, next year we will return to normal and be together physically at a nice hotel for the Association's traditional celebration. Despite everything, I thank everyone who contributed to making this meeting happen under these conditions. Our association was founded in 2004 and has been working with all its strength and dedication to strengthen economic ties between the two countries. I think it has been successful in the important roles it has undertaken, but we still have a long way to go. Of course, when there is tension like this, the work of such associations becomes more difficult, but it also becomes even more important. I wish for a very successful and enjoyable meeting. I thank everyone again. Now, to return to the question: the cooperation between the Koç Group and Ford Motor Company, established nearly a hundred years ago, I think sets a good example for today's meeting. In the next few minutes, I will share some information about this partnership and try to explain the innovative part related to the investments made in the coming period. As you know, Ford Motor Company is one of the most important companies of American industry, and its long-term belief in Turkey plays a major role in the successes I will describe shortly. There is a nearly century-old partnership relationship between the Koç Group and Ford, extending back to our founding years. Hopefully, we will celebrate it soon. If we look at the history, our collaboration started in 1928 with a dealership system that can be described as a desk and a table. In the 1900s, we moved to the local production stage. With Turkey's entry into the European Union customs union, at the beginning of this partnership, in 1997, Ford and Koç Group equalized their shares in Ford Otosan, completing it as a joint venture. This period was a milestone in the company's history, and as you will see shortly, we developed an exemplary partnership in many respects. Looking at the numbers to see where we came from, I think the figures most strikingly express the success of this partnership. When we started mass production in 1997, our company employed 3,400 people. Today, that number has reached 12,000. We were producing 43,000 vehicles then; today that figure has reached 370,000. In dollar terms, our turnover was approximately $850 million, while today it has reached about $7 billion. If I give the export figures, there is a great success story here. At that time, Ford Otosan was exporting only 667 vehicles—you heard that right, just 667 vehicles. Today, that figure has reached 335,000 units. In other words, the export figure, which was $16 million at that time, has now reached nearly $6 billion. Along with this, our company has been Turkey's export champion for the last 5 years, and in the years we couldn't be champion, we were usually second. The steps we took have greatly contributed to our group's and of course our country's R&D, innovation, and high-value production capabilities, not just for the company but also for all the supplier companies in the value chain. Many of our supplier companies today supply parts to Ford Motor Company's factories outside of Turkey. I can say that we, as a country, as our company, and as the Turkish automotive sector, cannot be proud enough of this result. Both sides believe that this trust and will will continue to strengthen. Our belief and trust in our country will continue, and investments will continue. From the perspective of Ford Otosan's corporate history, it contains many firsts for the Turkish automotive industry. If we take a quick tour and give a few examples: we produced Turkey's first domestic automobile and diesel engine in our factory. In 2004-2009, Ford Otosan achieved another first by becoming the first Turkish automotive company to export to America, which we describe as the homeland of the automotive industry. That year, we exported 30,000 Transit Connects. In total, we have exported 200,000 vehicles from our country to America. To show how much our company's capabilities have developed, I can say this: today, we have all the necessary capabilities and infrastructure to completely design, develop, and produce a vehicle from scratch, from a drawing on paper to a finished product, including the engine. In the last 5 years, we have become export champions in both areas: with the vehicles we export and the engineering services we provide. Ford is the leader in the European commercial vehicle market. Over 80% of these vehicles are produced at our company, Ford Otosan. So, we can say that Ford Otosan is today the fortress of commercial vehicles for Ford in Europe, the production base for commercial vehicles. Our Gebze-Kocaeli factory was included in the Industry 4.0 Pioneer Factory network as a result of comprehensive evaluations by the World Economic Forum. Thus, in digital transformation, it has become one of the four automotive factories worldwide shown as an example among all automotive factories. At our Eskişehir factory, we produce trucks. Our F-Max truck, produced at our Eskişehir factory, was selected as the International Truck of the Year in 2019. Along with this, our Custom hybrid electric vehicle produced in Kocaeli received the Commercial Vehicle of the Year award. However, these success examples I have given you so far, both numerically and qualitatively, are some examples I shared to better explain where we came from. But we are still at the beginning of the road; we have much more work to do. Despite all the global uncertainties, the pandemic crisis, and the recent tensions between the two countries, we never considered stopping our investments. On the contrary, as two partners, we trust the future of our country at Ford Otosan. Unaffected by these developments, Ford Motor Company and the Koç Group continue to work with all our strength and put our hands under the stone with our long-term value creation vision. This is extremely important because, in my opinion, one of the biggest deficiencies in our country in recent years has been the low level of industrial investments. We think the lack of investment mobility is a big problem for the future, and we believe that industrial investments must increase for our country to reach its true potential. We are trying to structure our own business accordingly. Returning to Ford Otosan, in line with our goal of becoming Turkey's first and only integrated electric vehicle production facility, we have started working to establish the country's first battery assembly plant. Here, we aim to produce Ford's first fully electric vehicle. This is a huge step for the already very successful Turkish automotive sector, because the market share of electric vehicles in the automotive sector is progressing far above your estimates. Also, recently, we announced one of the largest investments of the Turkish private sector with Ford Otosan. I would have liked to give you much more information today, but since not everything is finalized yet, we will be a bit cautious. But I can say this: this investment will exceed one billion dollars, will last ten years, and will reach full capacity after 2026. We will bring to life new generation electric and connected commercial vehicle projects. Along with this, to meet the growing demand in the European commercial vehicle market, we aim to increase our capacity to 650,000 units today. More than 90% of this 650,000 vehicle capacity will likely be exported. At least, we are making our plans accordingly. In this way, our exports, which I mentioned earlier are approaching $6 billion, will hopefully double. In terms of employment, what will it add to our country? At Ford Otosan, the direct employment of 10-12 thousand people will rise to 15 thousand, creating 3,000 new jobs. We see this as a pioneering leap forward for the future. We foresee that this investment will also create approximately 15,000 jobs in the supplier industry. So, as a result of this investment, approximately 18,000 new employment opportunities will be created in the automotive sector. We believe this will greatly contribute to carrying the Turkish automotive industry into the future and increasing its competitiveness in the global arena. Hopefully, when this investment is realized and finalized, and when production figures reach the levels I mentioned, it will make a great contribution to the country's automotive sector and industry. Hopefully, it will also be an exemplary investment for other brands, and they will increase their investments in Turkey. In conclusion, I once again congratulate our Association's board of directors and all employees for their efforts in making this evening happen. Looking ahead, I want to say a few words. A lot of work will fall on us in this period. We all know the recent tensions and problems in relations between these two countries. I hope this will be a passing phase. These two countries need each other. The United States needs to understand the value and importance of our country, and better understand our sensitivities. We also need to be more understanding of the other side's grievances. I hope this will be a passing phase. But most importantly, I think we need to recognize that the cooperation between the two countries, which we have called a strategic partnership for years, has reached a certain level commercially, and we truly have a strategic friendship. If you ask me, historically, we have fallen behind in commercial matters. The potential of the two countries is evident. Hopefully, we can achieve the $100 billion trade volume that has been mentioned. I believe that if we achieve these goals, other problems will be resolved in some way. In this context, a great responsibility falls on our Association. I wish you an open path and abundant luck. With this, I wish everyone a Happy New Year. Leaving behind the nightmare of 2020 with joy, I wish us all a more hopeful, happier, and most importantly, a healthier 2021.