NYC Taxi Cab – Will Turkish Karsan V1 Win The Taxi Of Tomorow Tender ?

Turkish firm’s NY taxi bid marks a brilliant decade Thursday, February 3, 2011 The position of Karsan Otomotiv, the Turkish van and bus maker, as a finalist for the bid to produce New York taxi cabs, caps a decade in which the country’s once little-known car industry has emerged as a regional powerhouse. The Turkish automotive industry has more than quadrupled production to overtake Poland and the Czech Republic as a manufacturing base for global brands. Output has also surged as Turkish banks not only survived the financial crisis without a government bailout but also approved record amounts of loans to businesses and consumers. “Turkey has become a hub for light-commercial vehicle production for many global car companies as this segment has grown in popularity,” said Berna Kurbay, an automotive analyst in New York-based BGC Partners’ Istanbul office. “The visibility created with the New York taxi cab could help create a quality image for cars made in Turkey.” With Ford planning to close its St. Thomas, Ontario, assembly plant that makes its large, rear-wheel-drive cars, New York is looking at other options for its taxis. Ford offers customers a version of the Transit Connect minivan built with Turkey’s Koç Holding at a seaside plant 100 kilometers from Istanbul. The Dearborn, Michigan-based company began exporting the model from Turkey to the US last year, selling the taxi version in 10 US cities. The industry in Turkey is heavily export-reliant, with three of every …
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