The first Busworld Turkey show tookplace on February 8-10, 2007 in Istan-bul. For a first show, it was a substan-

tial success. Some of our readers may askwhy NATIONAL BUS TRADER went all of theway to Turkey to attend this show. We canprovide you with three reasons.

First, Temsa recently introduced theirTurkish-built bus to the U.S. market at therecent UMA Motorcoach Expo in NewOrleans in January. This is the first Turkish-built bus to be offered on the U.S. market.As a result, it has generated substantial inter-est and questions from NATIONAL BUS

TRADER readers.

Second, more buses are already beingbuilt in Turkey than in any other Europeancountry. Moreover, in the near future, Turkeyis expected to produce half of the buses soldin Europe. Hence, Turkey is rapidly becom-ing a major world-class bus production cen-ter and has become increasingly importantin worldwide bus production.

Third, the Busworld management hasacknowledged the importance of Turkey inthe world bus industry by creating BusworldTurkey. In the world bus industry, being hon-ored with a Busworld show is the ultimatestamp of approval.

For those readers who do not know, theBusworld show in Kortrijk, Belgium is con-sidered the largest bus show in the world. Itis held every other year in October anddraws more exhibitors and attendees thanany other bus show. It involves seven oreight halls plus extra space in between. Thereis no host hotel and any events are held inthe Halls of Kortrijk. Some people travel sub-stantial distances from hotels. For example,your editor has stayed as far away as Gentand Brussels.

The Kortrijk show in Belgium has beenso successful that in recent years it hasspread to other countries where bus pro-duction and sales are important. New Bus-world show locations include Lagos inAfrica, Mumbai in India, and Shanghai inChina. Most of these shows are scheduledevery two years. However, the managementat Busworld has indicated that bus devel-opment in China is moving so fast that Bus-world Asia in China may be the only loca-tion that warrants an annual show. Futureexpansion includes possible plans for showsin Mexico and South America. The onlyworldwide locations not covered by a Bus-world show are the United States andCanada and Australia-New Zealand.

Istanbul has been the traditional cross-roads of the area. For decades, Istanbul wasthe end of the line for the most famous train

14 • National Bus Trader / May, 2007

The Diamond is the top-of-the-line tour and charter coach model from Temsa. It comes in twolengths with the longer version approximately 45 feet long. Temsa’s Diamond has the same fea-tures you might find on American and Canadian tour and charter coaches including air ride sus-pension and a ZF AS Tronic transmission.

The First Busworld Turkey

And Turkey’s IncreasingImpact on Bus Production

Article and photos by Larry Plachno

in the world – The Orient Express. It origi-nated in London but passengers crossed theEnglish Channel on a ferry boat. In France,they joined another set of cars that wentthrough Paris and then crossed Europe toreach Istanbul. You could cross the Bospho-rus, the traditional dividing line betweenEurope and Asia, and board the TaurusExpress which continued east. However,because of mountains and other terrain,there never was a continuous rail line acrossSouthern Asia to compare with the Trans-Siberian line that connected Berlin andMoscow with China and the Pacific Ocean.

In earlier years, a ferry boat was requiredto cross the Bosphorus. Today, two differentbridges cross the Bosphorus and a third oneis being planned. In addition, a rail tunnelunder the Bosphorus is also under con-struction. This means that Turkey has therare distinction of being located in bothEurope and Asia.

Like most European countries, Turkeyhad a number of of wagon and bodybuilders in the early years. In the 1960s, thegovernment encouraged the developmentof a local automotive industry whichprompted some major bus building opera-tions. Some people have suggested that thefirst Busworld Turkey coincides with the40th anniversary of major bus building activ-itiesin Turkey.

Several different factors have combinedto make Turkey a major bus building center.The most obvious is that the Turkish work

force offers an impressive level of quality forproduction costs that is difficult to find else-where. With four decades of major busbuilding history, several major bus compo-nent suppliers have built factories and ware-houses in Turkey and are able to providejust-in-time deliveries. Temsa has refinedthis concept into having supplier staff on siteand partnering with both painting and seatsuppliers. Worth mentioning also is that

modern Turkey is concerned about com-merce. As a result, English has become thesecond language of Turkey. At most airportsand even on many road signs, you will seeEnglish following the Turkish wording.

In recent years, two major developmentshave had a major favorable impact on Turk-ish bus production. With the collapse of theold Soviet system and the emergence of newindependent republics, Turkey was in anexcellent position to supply buses to severalcountries in Central Asia located to the eastof Turkey. The second is that while Turkeyis not a member of the European Union, itentered into a customs agreement with theEU which abolished tariffs on both sides.This made it easier for Turkish bus factoriesto supply buses to European bus operators.By 2007, Turkey was producing more busesthan any country in Europe and approach-ing the point of being able to claim building50 percent of the buses sold in Europe.

While Turkey has a great deal in commonwith European countries, it is different inseveral respects. Passenger railroad serviceis typically frequent and convenient in mostWestern European countries. However, sim-ilar passenger railroad services never devel-oped to the same extent in Turkey becauseof the mountainous terrain in many areas ofthe country.

As a result, much of the intercity pas-senger transport between neighboring citiesis operated by buses. On some routes youwill find luxury buses with fewer seats buthigher fares. Some companies operate 24

16 • National Bus Trader / May, 2007

Much of the local transportation in the major cities of Turkey is provided by ubiquitous minibusesand midibuses that follow regular routes on frequent headways. While they are small enough todart in and out of traffic, some of the local authorities are pushing for larger midibuses to reducecongestion. This minibus terminal in Adana, Turkey is located adjacent to a beautiful public park.

The Mercedes-Benz O403 is a shorter bus that might be considered more typical for the Turkishmarket. It was one of several buses on display in the larger Mercedes-Benz booth. In keeping withEuropean tradition, many of the manufacturers had local Turkish girls as models to help show offthe buses.

hours a day and hence provide overnightservice between cities.

In most larger Turkish cities, city transitis provided by public agencies using typi-cal transit buses. However, the major Turk-ish cities also have a substantial number ofminibuses and midibuses that operate onfixed routes like a jitney. In my experience,it reminds me of the situation in Mexico Cityor the Jeepneys in the Philippines.

In some areas, authorities are trying toget the local operators to move up fromminibuses to midibuses to reduce pollutionand congestion. The smaller buses actuallyhave some merit because they can provide

a relatively frequent headway and are smallenough to find their way through traffic andcongestion.

In recent years, approximately 40,000buses are built annually in Turkey. Some-thing like two-thirds are little minibuses thatcarry no more than 16 passengers. Next inpopularity are the midibuses which seat 17-25 passengers. Some of these are veryimpressive since they ride, drive and han-dle like the big buses in spite of their size.Big buses have become an increasinglyimportant segment of the Turkish bus build-ing industry. In 2005, the number of bigbuses built increased to more than 5,000units for the first time and this number

appears to be growing from year to year.Most of the big buses built in Turkey comefrom Mercedes-Benz, Neoman and Temsaand most are sold in other European coun-tries.

The midibuses are both numerous andimpressive. They are typically 25 to 30 feetlong, have a front and a rear (not center)door, and a six speed manual transmission.The real surprise is that many of themappear to be integral or at least very highquality body-on-chassis. Many of them driveand ride very similar to full size coaches. Iknow of no equivalent vehicles in the UnitedStates and Canada.

An interesting note is that Turkey isbecoming a major tourist destination. Inaddition to its natural and historical rich-ness, the fact that different religions and cul-tures live in harmony make the country anattractive tourism center. In 2006, an esti-mated 12.55 million foreign tourists visitedTurkey. English is becoming Turkey’s sec-ond language and is increasingly in evidenceat the airports, better hotels, and in manypublic places.

Here are some notes on the Turkish busbuilders and exhibitors at Busworld Turkey.

Mercedes-Benz was one of the first com-panies to recognize Turkey as a good placeto build larger buses. In 1967, they licensedOtomarsan to build their then-popular O350integral coach in a suburb of Istanbul. Othermodels followed and in 1990, Mercedes-Benz acquired a majority interest in thecompany and changed its name to Mer-cedes-Benz Türk.

In subsequent years, Mercedes-Benzacquired property west of Istanbul at Hos-dere and built a new factory. New modelsintroduced included the O350-Tourismo

National Bus Trader / May, 2007 • 17

The Mercedes-Benz Travego model is popular in Europe for tour and char-ter service. Most Mercedes-Benz intercity coaches sold in Europe are builtat their plant in Turkey.

Mercedes-Benz also offers their Connecto model for city transit service.Most major cities in Turkey have transit agencies that operate with regu-lar transit buses like these.

The Temsa Tourmalin is an interesting model that appears to be a step above a typical transit bus.It has become very popular for transporting school children and has become a popular model forTemsa in France. Temsa has a major sales office in Belgium and sells coaches all over WesternEurope.

which is popular in both Europe and locallyin Turkey. The factory also builds the O403-Connecto which was involved with a 1,000-bus order for Russia in 1996.

A major expansion at Hosdere in 2005brought the total land area to about 89 acreswith approximately 1.2 million square feetunder roof. When we visited the Mercedes-Benz plant in Mannheim, Germany in Octo-ber of 2006, most Mercedes-Benz intercitybus production for Europe was alreadybeing shifted to Hosdere although a plantin France will also remain active. Currently,the Hosdere plant builds approximately4,000 units annually including both citybuses and intercity coaches. Approximately65 percent of the buses built are exported toas many as 70 different countries.

Mercedes-Benz had one of the largest dis-play areas at the show. They showed anO403 midibus, a Connecto transit bus, aSprinter van, and two versions of theTravego full size tour coach including a high-deck model. Mercedes-Benz had a largestage and runway in their display area andoffered both entertainment and refreshmentsduring the show.

Conspicuous by its absence at the showwas Neoman, arguably the first of the majorEuropean bus builders to get start buildingin Turkey. In 1966, MAN joined with a Turk-ish partner to open the MANAS factory inIstanbul. In 1986, a new factory was built atAnkara which eventually replaced the Istan-bul facility. In recent years the Ankara fac-

tory has been extended and is now produc-ing about 2,000 buses annually, with about75 percent being exported. In addition tocomplete buses, the Ankara factory alsobuilds bus chassis for export to countriesthat provide local bodies.

Current production includes MAN’s LionClassic city buses. 450 of these city buses

powered by CNG were recently built for thecity of Ankara. MAN also offers a Lion’s CityT model with a low floor. Since the mergerwith Neoplan, both MAN and Neoplanintercity coaches are built in Ankara forexport to the European market. Unfortu-nately, Neoman elected not to display at thisshow which was disappointing.

The newest and fastest growing of thebig Turkish bus builders is Temsa. It is partof Sabanci Holdings, the second-largest con-glomerate in Turkey that encompasses a totalof 65 companies and 45,000 employees. Orig-inally founded in 1968 as a manufacturer ofheating and air conditioning equipment,Temsa began building buses under a Mit-subishi license in 1987.

In 2001, the Sabanci management madea major decision to take advantage of theTurkish bus building potential and devel-oped its own line of buses. The companyexpanded its staff with experienced peoplein bus manufacturing and bus design, andput together an impressive line of coaches.Initially concentrating on intercity coaches,Temsa recently added a line of city buseswhich has also proven popular.

Today, Temsa offers a wide range of inter-city coaches. They are still building a fewcoaches under license from Mitsubishiincluding the Safir and Prestij. Their ownproducts include small buses such as theOpalin and a local product sold in Turkeycalled a Power Bus. Both are short coachesbut drive and handle like big coaches. Their

National Bus Trader / May, 2007 • 19

Following their success with intercity coaches,Temsa introduced a line of intercity transitbuses which has had similar success. Theirnew Metropol S transit was unveiled in a spe-cial ceremony at Busworld Turkey.

The Opalin is one of Temsa’s models in themidibus area. It is available with an optionalrear door and even a restroom. Your editor wasvery impressed with the ride quality in spiteof the size of the coach.

Although they do not build buses in Turkey, Setra had three coaches on display including a dou-ble-deck coach (which can be seen to the rear). Shown here is a Setra S416GT-HD with two axlesand a typical European center door. In Turkey, as elsewhere in Europe, the Setra is considered thetop-of-the-line coach and is purchased by the higher quality charter and tour operators.

middle range coach is called the Safari whichis available in different versions and withstainless steel construction. Their top-of-the-line coach, the Diamond, is nearly 14 meters(more than 45 feet) long.

Other products include the Tourmalinwhich has become popular in France and forstudent transport. The Metropol, Temsa’scity transit bus, has become so popular thatTemsa introduced an improved version atBusworld Turkey known as the Metropol S.Most of Temsa’s bus production is exportedwith much of it going to Western Europe. By2010, Temsa should have a 10 percent mar-ket share in Western Europe in its productareas.

Buses on display at the show by Temsaincluded the Tourmalin which we wouldconsider an upscale transit or suburbanmodel. It apparently has had substantial suc-cess as a school bus. Both a Safir VIP and aPrestij Deluxe were shown. Both of these aremid-size charter/tour coaches and part ofthe original Mitsubishi-licensed products.The Safir VIP is interesting because it has aninterior with two-and-one seating, which ispopular on some long distance coach ser-vices in Turkey.

On display also was the little Opalin,which has no equivalent in the United States.It comes in sizes from 25 to 28 feet with seat-ing for up to 33 passengers (plus a driverand tour escort) and underfloor and rear lug-gage space. A rear door and restroom are

optional. What makes this coach really inter-esting is that it is fully integral and both dri-ves and rides as much like a big coach as itswheelbase will permit. Temsa also unveiledits new Metropol S transit bus at this show.Already a leader in intercity coaches, Temsais now making strong inroads in the transitbus market.

Setra showed three coaches in a fairlylarge display area. Included was anS416HDH, an S416GT-HD, and an S431-DTdouble deck coach. Although obviously con-nected with Mercedes-Benz through Daim-lerChrysler and Evo bus, Setra coaches arestill built in Ulm, Germany (see the March,2007 issue of NATIONAL BUS TRADER). How-ever, Turkey is an important market forSetra. As with Western Europe, the Setra isconsidered the top-of-the-line tour coach.Hence, many of the higher quality Turkishtour operators are anxious to import Setrasfor their fleets.

VDL from the Netherlands had a smallstand where they showed an interestingdouble decker. According to the informa-tion we received, the chassis came from VDLbut the body was made by a new companyknown as MJT which was formed by someof the people formerly involved with Ikarus.

A Chinese company known as the Xia-men King-Long United Automotive Indus-try Co. Ltd. displayed a full size tour coachbuilt in China. It attracted a great deal ofattention but we were unable to determinehow it was sold and supported in Europe.

Another display area worthy of note washeld by a relatively new company known asSolaris. Inquiries produced the informationthat the company originated as a Neoplanbranch in Poland but eventually became inde-pendent and changed its name to Solaris.Four buses were on display including a tour

20 • National Bus Trader / May, 2007

Tezeller from Bursa, Turkey is one of several companies building midibuses for sale in Turkey.This particular bus represents their Tiger Lüx model which seats 35 passengers plus a driver andtour escort. Nearby photos show the interior of this coach.

This photo shows the driver’s area on the Tezeller Tiger Lüx. Note themechanical, floor-mounted transmission. Automatic transmissions appearto be rare on the midibuses.

Here is the passenger area of the Tezeller Tiger Lüx. This particular coachdoes have a rear door, open overhead parcel racks and seat belts but doesnot have a restroom.

coach, a transit bus and two midibuses. Alllooked to be fairly good construction.

Most of the remaining display areas weregiven over to suppliers, vans and midibuses.Some of the vans were interesting. A localcompany in Istanbul showed a line of Volk-swagen commercial vehicles which includedthree different vans. Other companies showedvarious van conversions with the Sprinter vanbeing very popular. A company called Trimofrom Bursa, Turkey specializes in van con-versions and had three different vans on dis-play. Two of them were particularly attractivewith tables and a rear lounge. There are obvi-ously higher quality passenger services inTurkey that use higher quality interiors.

Some display areas showed a combina-tion of vans and midibuses. TheOtoyol/Iveco display area had a combina-tion of three buses and two vans. Located inIstanbul, Otoyol is a major bus and truckbuilder in Turkey but seems to specialize insmaller buses. Somewhat similar was theAndolu Isuzu partnership of a companyfrom Kocaeli, Turkey with the JapaneseIsuzu. They showed a number of midibusesthat looked very attractive.

Other midibus builders includedOtokar from Istanbul. They introducedtheir new nine meter long midibus at thisshow and had three minibuses on display.Their display area was continually busy

which can only suggest that their buses arepopular with the local operators. A 30-yearold company, Tezeller from Bursa, Turkeyhad two midibuses on display. Theirmidibuses were offered in lengths up tonine meters (29.5 feet) with seating for upto 35 passengers.

I had the opportunity to both inspectand ride on some of these midibuses. WhileI admit that there is a fairly wide range inquality from manufacturer to manufacturer,I was reasonably impressed by the quality.Most are integral construction and ride con-siderably better than body-on-chassisbuses. Most have stick shift, some still floor-mounted, but many have additional pas-senger amenities and many have under-floor and/or rear luggage compartments.There might be a market for vehicles likethis in the United States and Canada.

While Busworld is known more as a trueindustry show than a social event, therewas a little celebration on the first night ofthe show. HKF Trade Fairs, the Turkishshow partner of Busworld, graciously puttogether an evening reception at the ExpoCenter for exhibitors and press after theshow closed to the public. An unexpectedtreat was a performance by belly dancersfor the group. The girls were obviously wellinstructed since they paid particular atten-tion to Luc Glorieux of Busworld, much tothe delight of many in attendance whoknow Luc.

Both exhibitors and attendees made pos-itive comments about this first BusworldTurkey. What with the increasing importanceof Turkey as a bus manufacturing center, theshow was very appropriate. As is typicalwith other bus shows, the big question willbe in scheduling additional events in thefuture that do not conflict with other showssuch as Kortrijk or Hannover. ❑

22 • National Bus Trader / May, 2007

One of the more interesting vehicles on display at Busworld Turkey was this double-decker citybus. The bus chassis came from VDL in the Netherlands while the body came from MJT in Hun-gary, a company formed by former people from Ikarus. Note the extra wide doors for fast loadingand unloading.

Otoyol displayed this Iveco midibus that is known as the Eurocity model.Keeping with typical styling, it has both a front and a rear door. Note-worthy are several big bus features plus some distinctive styling.

Not all midibuses are alike. Andolu Isuzu showed three differentmidibuses. This one represented their Urban model. Expectedly, it hadfeatures more typical of a bus designed for local city transit service.

From the

May, 2007

Issue Of

National Bus Trader

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