AYSEL YÜCEL / VREDEN
German trailer giant Schmitz Cargobull is preparing for axle production in Adapazarı and plans to export from Turkey to the world. Schmitz Cargobull President Andreas Schmitz said, “We will now produce Rotos branded axles in Turkey and sell them to the world from here.”
Schmitz Cargobull, one of Germany’s leading trailer manufacturers, organized a global press conference before IAA 2024, Europe’s most important commercial vehicle exhibition to be held in September. Answering our questions at the meeting held recently in Vreden, Germany, where one of the company’s important production centers is located, Schmitz Cargobull President Andreas Schmitz announced that they will produce axles in Turkey.
Schmitz Cargobull, which serves with 6 thousand employees worldwide and has an annual turnover of more than 2.5 billion euros, has achieved record growth in Turkey in recent years with the effect of the logistics market, which has been on the rise with the pandemic. The company continued to increase its sales in this market in 2023. The company delivered a total of 3,452 trailers to the Turkish market, including 2,047 tilt trailers, 1,391 refrigerated trailers and 14 container carrier trailers. Of these, 1,976 were produced in Adapazarı.
Localization share up in Adapazarı
Emphasizing that Turkey is an important market for them, Andreas Schmitz, President of Schmitz Cargobull, pointed out that they have important projects for Turkey, where they are growing rapidly. Stating that they want to increase their diversity in Turkey instead of buying parts from outside because they attach great importance to quality as a company, Andreas Schmitz said, “One of these is axle production. Schmitz Cargobull’s Rotos branded axles, the patent and production of which belongs entirely to Schmitz Cargobull, will now be produced in Turkey. All Schmitz models delivered to Turkey have been delivered with Rotos brand axles until today. In addition, the axles produced in Turkey will be sent to the world from here.”
Doubled production capacity
The German trailer company opened its Adapazarı plant in October 2017. Emphasizing the importance of this facility for the company, Andreas Schmitz said, “Our Adapazarı facility, whose production capacity has been continuously increased with new investments since its establishment, has always doubled its annual production capacity consecutively in the last 3 years.” With the latest investments, the Adapazarı plant has reached an annual production capacity of 4,600 units. Only refrigerated and tilt trailers are assembled in the Adapazarı plant. The production-logistics source of the vehicles produced in Adapazarı or other Schmitz Cargobull factories is always the same and the same parts are used. Therefore, the products produced in Germany, Lithuania, England, Spain or Turkey are exactly the same.
Introduced zero emission trailer
Schmitz Cargobull will be exhibiting at IAA Transportation 2024 in Hannover, Germany, from September 17 to 22 under the slogan “Delivering Performance”. The company will showcase its latest technologies, focusing on efficient transport solutions that customers can use to improve the performance of their fleets and optimize overall operating costs. In the run-up to the fair, the company presented its new products to the international press at its reefer semi-trailer factory in Vreden. One of these vehicles, S.KOe COOL, which is presented as the refrigerated trailer solution of the future, has zero emissions. It has axles that can generate electricity and solar panels on the roof of the vehicle. The trailer also features a high-voltage battery that generates its own energy for 4.5-18 hours and can be recharged in 2 hours. The Schmitz Cargobull EcoPack provides more fuel savings and more storage space thanks to its aerodynamic storage box. S.CS X-TOUGH, S.BO PACE, S.BO EXPRESS were among the other vehicles introduced to the press.
