TAFE plans tractor facility in Turkey

Chennai: Tractors and Farm Equipment (TAFE), part of the Chennai-based Amalgamations group, has announced that it plans to set up a greenfield tractor manufacturing plant in Turkey.

The plant will start in 2009 with a capacity of 15,000 units a year. The company has not disclosed the proposed investments, but it is learnt reliably that it is around $20 million (Rs 100 crore).

The plant will come up in the industrial area of Manisa. The industrial zone is a well established one where close to 200 foreign companies are operating, said Mr Vijayakumar Browning, Head – Corporate Communications, TAFE.

“Everything an industry would want, such as power, steel, natural gas, is available there,” Mr Browning said. He also said there is also a well established auto component industry near the region.

The demand for tractors in Turkey is about 45,000 units a year, and TAFE intends to focus only on this market initially. Only after establishing itself in the Turkish market would it look at selling in the neighbouring countries.

It is understood that there are five tractor manufacturing companies in Turkey. Among them are John Deere in collaboration with the local Hattat group, Erkunt Agricultural Machinery and Uzel.

In addition, the Turkish market is served also by imports. TAFE itself has about 2,000 of its tractors operating there. Last year Mahindra & Mahindra launched its products in the country.

Quoting the Chairman of the Amalgamations group, a statement from TAFE says, “this is the opportune moment to enter with a greenfield investment into Turkey.”

“Tractor customers in Turkey are progressive farmers who expect the highest levels of performance, reliability and fuel efficiency and we are confident our products will meet these expectations,” the statement says.