TURKEY - Industry
CEO, Temsa
Bio
Hasan Yıldırım graduated from the department of economics at Nürtingen-Geislingen University of Applied Science, Germany and completed his Executive MBA at Steinbeis University. He started as a marketing executive at Fraunhofer Gesellschaft in Germany and later became its marketing manager and business development manager. He was previously a marketing analyst with Daimler-Benz, global product manager with MAN AG, and global product marketing manager with Iveco in France. Yıldırım was the global marketing manager global demo fleet, tender manager, and Far East area manager with Iveco France and Italy. Finally, he served as the general manager of 18 countries in the Far East region. He was appointed CEO of Temsa in 2017.
While Temsa is broadly known as a bus manufacturer, it is working toward being known as a technology company. How does this change Temsa’s corporate and operational strategy?
Temsa took action long ago to prepare for technological advancements and completed the necessary R&D work, and our electric vehicles are now ready for serial production. Turkey’s first 100% electrically powered buses are produced by Temsa. We are indeed evolving into a technology company with the advent of new technologies. In addition to value- added production in our bus and midibus business, we also generate solutions tailored to the needs of our customers and offer new automotive technologies developed by Turkish engineers. All our investment plans for the near future are shaped around the smart mobility vision that defines the future of the automotive industry. We allocate approximately 5% of our annual revenues on R&D activities. In addition to our leading position and experience in manufacturing electric vehicles, we also have the capability to create new segments based on the needs of domestic and international markets. We combine all of these with price advantages and advanced technologies. We already predict the transformation that the transportation and shipping industry will experience and work toward meeting our customers’ future needs.
Beyond electric and autonomous buses, what other important technologies is Temsa currently working on?
Temsa continues to offer products with high technology for various segments. We strive to bring customers the most useful solutions. Across multiple segments, we are setting new standards for safety, ergonomics, and energy savings and helping every passenger safely reach their destination each day. Temsa is working on energy storage systems for buses. We are developing a new battery management system for these energy packages. We are able to build our own battery packs with our own battery management software, and this system will be ready by 2020. Another project is telemetry hardware for all transportation vehicles. We are working together with STM on Fleetics fleet management system. This system delivers vehicle data to the Amazon cloud system, allowing customers or manufacturers to track the information of the vehicle via STM’s graphical user interface.
Temsa has a strong market presence in 70 markets. From which regions do most of its revenues come?
Temsa offers its broad product range to Turkey as well as the world’s leading markets. As of 2019, we have exported over 12,000 vehicles to 66 countries. Today, there are 5,000 Temsa branded buses on the roads of France alone. In addition to France, Germany, the UK, and Italy are among our major markets, and we are increasing our market share in the US rapidly as well. A strong sales and service network development is the key to success in our business. We have opened Temsa North America (TNA). By establishing a more direct relationship with our North American operators, we are setting a customer-centric foundation for major growth in the years ahead. We aim to quickly increase our market share in the US. Our first electric bus in the coach segment will be on American roads within a short time. Our biggest priority in the near future will be to grow our presence in the US and increase our market share through TNA. We will also continue strengthening our position and taking a larger market share in Europe, especially France, Italy, the UK, and Germany, which are priority export markets for us.
What are Temsa’s plans and primary objectives for the next 12 months?
Our investments in R&D, technology, and innovation will continue at full speed in 2019. The digital transformation that started within the organization will also proceed with further actions. Our organizational structuring will also expand in export markets. Our priority will be growing through value- added exports in the months and years ahead. The focus of our work will be more environment friendly, green, and next-generation technologies, and particularly electric and autonomous vehicles.
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