Anadolu Isuzu Automotive Industry & Trading A.Ş. is one of the leading medium-size coach manufacturing companies in Europe

Europe

Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

 whose major shareholders are the Anadolu Group from 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 Isuzu Motors and Itochu

ITOCHU

, until 1992 "C. Itoh" in English, is a Japanese general trading concern based in Umeda, Kita-ku, Osaka and Aoyama, Minato, Tokyo. It has a common origin with Marubeni Corporation. Itochu is a Fortune 500 company.-History:...

 Co. from Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

. Its main fields of operation are the production and marketing of light duty truck

Truck

A truck or lorry is a motor vehicle designed to transport cargo. Trucks vary greatly in size, power, and configuration, with the smallest being mechanically similar to an automobile...

s and midibus

Midibus

A midibus is a classification of single-decker minibuses which generally are larger than a traditional minibus but smaller than a full-size single decker and can be anywhere between and long...

es. Since the establishment of the company in 1984, more than 80,000 commercial vehicles have been produced in accordance with the Isuzu Motors license agreement. Anadolu Isuzu is the first Turco-Japanese joint venture in the automotive sector.

The experience and know-how of Anadolu Isuzu dates back to the Çelik Montaj, which was established in 1965 to build pick-ups and motorcycles. The company continued to produce Skoda pickups until the end of 1986. In 1984 the company started to produce Isuzu vehicles in Istanbul Kartal Plants.

In 1999 Anadolu Isuzu has moved to the new Gebze Şekerpınar facilities, in the Çayırova district of Kocaeli Province

Kocaeli Province

Kocaeli Province is a province of Turkey. Its capital is İzmit, which is sometimes referred to as Kocaeli itself. The largest town in the province is now Gebze. The traffic code is 41. The province is located at the easternmost end of the Marmara Sea, especially on the Gulf of İzmit. Because of...

. The new facilities were established over a land of 230.000 m2 where the company employs nearly 750 people. The facilities include two separate plants for truck and bus manufacturing. The midibus manufacturing plant alone covers an area of 21.750 m2 and has a production capacity of 4000 midibuses per year.

The performance

In 2004, Anadolu Isuzu has celebrated the 20th anniversary of the first Isuzu vehicle rolled off the production line in Turkey. Since 1984 more than 80 thousand Isuzu vehicles have been produced in Kartal and Sekerpinar facilities. Nearly 100 thousand Isuzu vehicles have been sold in the local market. In the last decade nearly 7 thousand vehicles produced in Anadolu Isuzu facilities have been exported.

By the end of 2005, Anadolu Isuzu was the largest midibus producer in Turkey, which also makes the company one of the leading manufacturers in Europe. In the same year Anadolu Isuzu was the best-selling midibus producer in the internal market. Anadolu Isuzu was also the largest midibus exporting company in Turkey, in 2005. The company exports 26/31-seat Euro Turquoise and 27-seat Roybus midibuses to nearly 15 countries in Europe.

Midibuses

• Turquoise (31 Seats)
• Novo (27 Seats)
• Citimark (75 Seats)
• Novociti (60 passenger)

External links

• Isuzu Turkey
• Isuzu Turquoise: 2000–2003 • 2004–2006 • 2007–2009 • 2010–present