The iconic van Ford Transit celebrates its 45th anniversary this year, having just celebrated a significant six-millionth production milestone in ceremonies at the Transit assembly plants in Turkey last April.
Ford Otosan, a joint venture of Turkish conglomerate Koc Holding and Ford Motor Company which started to manufacture Ford Transit in 2004 after a decision to move Transit production from Belgium, organized events to celebrate the 45th birthday of Europe's longest serving vehicle brand of Ford.
As part of birthday celebrations, Ford Otosan plant, located in Kocaeli in northwest Turkey, welcomed a 1976 Ford Transit that made a four-day and 2,100 km journey from Salzburg, Austria. The 1976 Transit, still in use as a fire van, carried a team comprised of Ford Austria's executives, two Austrian journalists and a member of the "Van of the Year" jury.
At the arrival ceremony at Ford Otosan plant, head of Turkey plant said that Ford Transit had been distributed to 61 countries in five continents after getting out of the assembly line in Kocaeli.
Haydar Yenigun said that Ford Otosan plant had produced six generations of Transit since 1967.
Transit was not a "newcomer" to Turkey, as Transits had been in production here since 1967, but mainly for the local or non-European markets until 2004.
"Ford Otosan has become a global player after reaching out to the world thanks to the power of Transit," Yenigun said.
Ford Otosan exported nearly 700,000 Transits and brought in $10 billion for Turkish economy, Yenigun said, adding, "Transit is our baby."
Ford Otosan plans to produce 150,000 Transits this year.
(TÇ-CE)