New subsidiary in Ankara: Wirtgen Group pursues a strong presence in Turkey

Economic centre and megacity: Ankara is not merely Turkey’s capital city, but is also the gateway to the Turkish market. Expanding and improving the infrastructure is one of the country’s major development goals. Turkey has a road network of some 414,000 km which connects regions, cities and people. Around 90 percent of all domestic commodities are transported by road. Roads are the most important means of transport for over 90% of the Turkish population. The Wirtgen Group has therefore been present in Turkey for many years, co-operating with a dealer. Now, an own subsidiary is being established in Ankara to serve the requirements of a growing road construction market. It will be opened in June 2008.

The new subsidiary in Ankara is currently being equipped for optimum customer service and processing of orders. Sales and service centre, workshop, parts store and washing facilities are set up on 12,400 square metres. A fleet of service vehicles, as well as additional local service centres will ensure flexible and prompt customer service in all parts of the country, which occupies a total area of some 800,000 square kilometres. At Wirtgen Ankara, around 20 staff members will in future take care of the Wirtgen Group’s Turkish customers. “We will retain all of the employees of the current dealer, which will ensure consistency in terms of contact partners. We will also expand our sales and service offer”, says Dieter Majer, the new subsidiary’s German Managing Director, explaining the concept. Both the parts store and the workshop were enlarged in the course of the new construction. Area Sales Manager Dieter Majer is shouldering the project together with Ugur Girginkaya as the local Managing Director. The new subsidiary will initially focus on selling Wirtgen, Vögele and Hamm products. Kleemann’s entry into the market is planned for 2010.

Choice of location: focusing on close customer relations

Ankara is Turkey’s second-largest city and home to more than three million people. From an economic viewpoint, Ankara counts among the country’s major business centres – traditional ways of earning one’s living meet global business enterprises and cutting-edge technology. Many of the Wirtgen Group’s key account customers reside in the Ankara region. “Being close to our customers was one of the main reasons for our choice of location”, says Majer. “And what’s more, Ankara is also Turkey’s administrative centre. The major authorities for transport and road construction are located in the immediate neighbourhood.” The Turkish capital with its international airport additionally offers an excellent transport infrastructure. The new subsidiary will be located in the immediate vicinity of Ankara’s orbital motorway.

Ankomak – the Wirtgen Group showcases itself at the major local trade show

Ankomak is the largest trade show for the Turkish construction industry, constituting Wirtgen Ankara’s debut event. More than 200 companies from the construction industry exhibited their products in Istanbul’s Expo Center from 25th to 29th April. “As Ankomak was the first event for us to present ourselves as Wirtgen Ankara, we have shown some of our highlights on an area of 450 square metres”, says Managing Director Ugur Girginkaya. A Super 1603-2, as well as a Super 2100-2, Vögele’s large paver model, were exhibited as part of the latest generation of Vögele pavers. The innovative tandem rollers HD 8 VV, HD 12 VT and HD 14 VV from the new Compact Line were shown as examples of the latest developments in the small machine class from Hamm. Exhibits from Hamm’s portfolio also included the larger tandem rollers HD 90 and HD 120, pneumatic tyred roller HD 150 TT, and 15-ton single-drum compactor type 3516.

The subsidiary has set clear goals for the future. “We want to retain the high market share of Wirtgen and Vögele products, but we also expect to improve Hamm’s market share this year”, says Ugur Girginkaya. Large milling machines from Wirtgen are especially popular on the Turkish market. A W 1900 was therefore exhibited at Ankomak, representing the 2-m milling machine class. Girginkaya continues, “Wirtgen is enjoying an excellent reputation in Turkey. Quality, performance and reliability are attributes that our customers consider most important. We are convinced that, with our team and the new subsidiary, we will achieve our goal ‘to be close to our customers all the time’.”