Ibrahim Uzel with his family , following the Ottoman-Russian War in 1878, migrated from the Balkan industrial city of Ruse (Rusçuk) to the province of Bursa where they continued their former business of producing carriages in their new home. With the efforts of İbrahim Uzel, the founder of the Uzel Group, UZEL became the company which pioneered the use of the assembly line conveyor technique in Turkey

Turkey

Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...

 through using the assembly line conveyor in their phaeton manufacturing plants - which was an advanced method during that time. As a result, Ibrahim Uzel gained his earliest industrial production experience in the field of serial production of phaetons.

Foundation of Uzel Group

The first steps towards the creation of the UZEL Group of companies were taken in the year 1935 in an environment where Turkey was in a struggle to achieve integration into the world community after a long war. Mr. Ibrahim Uzel, founder and first Chairman of the Board of Directors of the UZEL Group, set up a sole-trader company in Bursa and, in his small workshop, he started on the production of leaf springs for motor vehicles, which has grown into the huge leaf spring capability the company has today. Being aware of Istanbul’s rapid transformation as a global trade centre; İbrahim Uzel moved his growing business operations, together with his family, to Istanbul

Istanbul

Istanbul , historically known as Byzantium and Constantinople , is the largest city of Turkey. Istanbul metropolitan province had 13.26 million people living in it as of December, 2010, which is 18% of Turkey's population and the 3rd largest metropolitan area in Europe after London and...

. His new premises were based in the Sirkeci

Sirkeci

Sirkeci is an area in the Eminönü neighborhood of the Fatih district of the city of Istanbul, Turkey. It has evolved as the place name of the area in Eminönü surrounding Sirkeci Station, the Southeastern long distance passenger train terminus in Europe for the Orient Express.The neighborhood...

 district and, in addition to the production of leaf springs; he commenced the manufacture of chassis and various vehicle body parts.

Company Information

In 1948 İbrahim Uzel's company title was registered. It was recorded as "İbrahim Uzel" in the Trade Registrations Gazette, and in the Market Inventory, and the business became formally registered. Following this, the title of the company was changed to "Ibrahim Uzel ve Ortakları Limited Şirketi" (İbrahim Uzel & Partners Limited Company) in 1953. The line of business was defined as: "The company can operate in the fields of manufacturing motor vehicle body springs, automobile spare parts and service parts, and any line of industrial and commercial operations." The location of business was registered as Sirkeci, Istanbul.

Business Venture

The industrial plant in Sirkeci was becoming insufficient for the level of production. For this reason, Ibrahim Uzel looked for new premises. In 1958, the purchase of a new parcel of land in the Rami district, which today still hosts the operations of Uzel Makina (Uzel Machinery), was arranged, and the construction of the industrial plant commenced. The year of 1961 was significant in this regard. The Great Britain-based company, Massey Ferguson

Massey Ferguson

Massey Ferguson Limited was a major agricultural equipment manufacturer which was based in Canada before its purchase by AGCO. The company was formed by a merger between Massey Harris and the Ferguson tractor company in 1953, creating the company Massey Harris Ferguson. However in 1958 the name was...

 Group Limited, was searching for a reliable partner with competent production levels, in order to start on the production of tractors in Turkey

Turkey

Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...

. Ibrahim Uzel & Partners Limited Company welcomed Massey Ferguson Limited, and a licensing agreement for the production of tractors was signed. In the year 1962, when Ibrahim Uzel died at the young age of 57, the first finished tractor came off the production line. For Turkey

Turkey

Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...

 and for the Uzel Group as well, it was signaling the realization of the dream first assessed by Ibrahim Uzel.