Ford Turkish Unit Seeking New York City Taxi Contract to Boost U.S. Sales

[Transit Connect Guide]

Ford Turkish Unit Seeking New York City Taxi Contract to Boost U.S. Sales

Ford Transit Connect Forum - Ford Otomotiv Sanayi AS, the Turkish venture of Ford Motor Co. that’s shortlisted for a contract to supply New York City taxis, aims to increase sales to the U.S. by 50 percent in 2011, Chief Executive Officer Nuri Otay said.

Ford Otosan, as the company is known, is already selling its Transit Connect van for use as taxis and service vehicles in U.S. cities including Los Angeles, Washington, Boston and Chicago, Otay said yesterday in an interview in Istanbul. Demand for the model, built at a plant in Kocaeli, will increase in 2011, boosting U.S. sales, he said.

Turkey, whose economy grew 8.9 percent annually in the first three quarters, is a manufacturing base for automakers including Ford, Fiat SpA and Toyota Motor Corp. The country exports 75 percent of the cars, vans, buses and trucks it makes. Output may rise 32 percent this year to 1.08 million vehicles, including a 24 percent jump to 596,000 cars, according to the Istanbul-based Automotive Manufacturers Association of Turkey.

“Next year, wholesale and retail taxi-van sales to the U.S. market will increase as we see demand from taxi companies as well as from post offices for the Transit Connect,” raising sales of the model to 30,000, Otay said. “There are several taxi companies in each U.S. city, and they constantly review their procurement plans.”

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