Local firm a favorite supplier to Porsche
Güncelleme Tarihi:
Anatolia News Agency
Oluşturulma Tarihi: Mayıs 26, 2009 00:00
MANİSA - Turkey’s Sarıgözoğlu has become a favorite supplier for European automakers such as Porsche and Volkswagen. To emerge stronger in the aftermath of the crisis, Sarıgözoğlu is investing 60 million euros in its fourth production facility in Bursa
Sarıgözoğlu, a Turkish firm that produces castings and sheet metal for the automotive and white goods ındustries is a trusted supplier for German sports car company Porsche, while it also made it on the short list to cast the line German giant BMW will produce next year.
Despite the global crisis, the company aims to open its fourth factory in Bursa, said Mustafa Sarıgözoğlu, the firm’s president, adding that he aims for a stronger position in exports.
Having started production in 1957, the Sarıgözoğlu family has extensive experience in casting. "We have developed parallel to the development of the Turkish automotive and white goods sectors," Sarıgözoğlu said.
Until a decade ago, the company was producing castings to support sheet metal production. But later, it utilized rising demand in the automotive sector, shifting to high-technology and design-oriented production. "Using Turkey’s qualified labor force, we have started working with the world’s leading brands," Sarıgözoğlu said.
Sarıgözoğlu produces castings and sheet metal for 10 European companies, including Jaguar and Porsche. "We produce castings for the Mercedes, BMW, Peugeot, Audi and Volkswagen plants," Sarıgözoğlu said. "We also produced many castings for parts of the Porsche model Panamera. We used to deliver to factories in Europe, but then Audi requested castings for its factory in China. We delivered those by the end of last year," he said.
"Now we are preparing for a big project with Peugeot," he said. "Also, we wish to produce castings for the new BMW 3 and 5 series, to be launched in 2011. The company entered into an international competition for this. We ranked among the top five among 15 companies. We frequently visit Germany for this job, which involves the design, production and delivery of castings."
The company has decided to increase investments in order to take part in bigger global projects. "We will open our fourth production facility at the Bursa Organized Industrial Zone," Sarıgözoğlu said. "Despite higher investment costs, we chose Bursa to be close to the heart of the automotive sector. With this new facility, we target to double our annual turnover to 60 million euros." The global economic crisis peaked as the firm decided on the investment, he said. "The investment, costing 30 million euros, mainly depends on foreign financing. Thus, we had serious concerns due to the crisis, but we also grabbed some opportunities. We hope the crisis will end this year. When it ends, we will have the most cutting-edge production facility of Europe in this field."
Expertise in design
Castings require an enhanced focus on design and Sarıgözoğlu sometimes intervenes in prototypes sent by the car producers. "Due to our success in design, we have come to a position better than Eastern European companies," he said. "Turkey is a haven for qualified labor, not cheap labor," Sarıgözoğlu said. "Delegations from European companies frequently visit our factory and are impressed by our dynamic, flexible and focused structure. [Western European] automobile companies choose Turkey when they look abroad. We are ahead of Eastern Europe in this field."
Sarıgözoğlu has received partnership offers from "a few global companies," but does not plan such a partnership at the moment.
Despite the global crisis, the company aims to open its fourth factory in Bursa, said Mustafa Sarıgözoğlu, the firm’s president, adding that he aims for a stronger position in exports.
Having started production in 1957, the Sarıgözoğlu family has extensive experience in casting. "We have developed parallel to the development of the Turkish automotive and white goods sectors," Sarıgözoğlu said.
Until a decade ago, the company was producing castings to support sheet metal production. But later, it utilized rising demand in the automotive sector, shifting to high-technology and design-oriented production. "Using Turkey’s qualified labor force, we have started working with the world’s leading brands," Sarıgözoğlu said.
Sarıgözoğlu produces castings and sheet metal for 10 European companies, including Jaguar and Porsche. "We produce castings for the Mercedes, BMW, Peugeot, Audi and Volkswagen plants," Sarıgözoğlu said. "We also produced many castings for parts of the Porsche model Panamera. We used to deliver to factories in Europe, but then Audi requested castings for its factory in China. We delivered those by the end of last year," he said.
"Now we are preparing for a big project with Peugeot," he said. "Also, we wish to produce castings for the new BMW 3 and 5 series, to be launched in 2011. The company entered into an international competition for this. We ranked among the top five among 15 companies. We frequently visit Germany for this job, which involves the design, production and delivery of castings."
The company has decided to increase investments in order to take part in bigger global projects. "We will open our fourth production facility at the Bursa Organized Industrial Zone," Sarıgözoğlu said. "Despite higher investment costs, we chose Bursa to be close to the heart of the automotive sector. With this new facility, we target to double our annual turnover to 60 million euros." The global economic crisis peaked as the firm decided on the investment, he said. "The investment, costing 30 million euros, mainly depends on foreign financing. Thus, we had serious concerns due to the crisis, but we also grabbed some opportunities. We hope the crisis will end this year. When it ends, we will have the most cutting-edge production facility of Europe in this field."
Expertise in design
Castings require an enhanced focus on design and Sarıgözoğlu sometimes intervenes in prototypes sent by the car producers. "Due to our success in design, we have come to a position better than Eastern European companies," he said. "Turkey is a haven for qualified labor, not cheap labor," Sarıgözoğlu said. "Delegations from European companies frequently visit our factory and are impressed by our dynamic, flexible and focused structure. [Western European] automobile companies choose Turkey when they look abroad. We are ahead of Eastern Europe in this field."
Sarıgözoğlu has received partnership offers from "a few global companies," but does not plan such a partnership at the moment.