Turkey's Temsa Global opens factory in Egypt

Dubai: Temsa Global, manufacturer of buses, coaches and light vehicles, officially launched its $25 million (Dh92 million) factory in Egypt to become the first European coach manufacturer in the Middle East, company officials said.

The factory has a capacity of manufacturing 1,000 units every year and began operation in April last year. Before its first production base overseas, the Turkish company exported 150 units per year to the Middle East, according to Rabie Ebrahim Barakat, international sales and marketing manager, Temsa Global.

Producing medium sized coaches, the facility has a land area of 80,000 square metres, a covered area of 30,000 square metres and a workforce of 750.

Hikmet Hizal Ozturk, the UAE manager for Temsa Global said that the tourism and education sectors will be their main target markets. "This market has recently started developing and is now starting to improve." She said that there is much potential for growth in the region due to the lack of high quality and medium priced coaches.

Serving the long and medium distance travel market, the company also launched its regionally produced 53-seater coach, the Safari SD.

Establishment in 1968, the company produces 16,000 units each year. Currently, the company exports more than 75 per cent of its coaches out of Turkey to the rest of Europe, Tunisia, Libya, Morocco, Jordan, Sudan, Egypt, Lebanon and the UAE.

With 83 distributors across the region, Al Habtoor Motors is the local dealer for the company.