As Turkey’s one of the most important companies in the automotive industry Ditaş, continues to make new investments in rail systems, agriculture machines and defense industries. DİTAŞ Deputy Chairman of the Board of Directors and Chief executive Chairman Selim Baybaş, shared his experience in the industry and the domestic / foreign aftermarket and in our special interview.
What are the your recent activities as one of the most important manufacturer in Turkish automotive sector?
Ditaş was estahlished with yhe invesments of expats in the early 1970s. First to produce bicycle parts and then entered the automotive industry. Early 1990s the company merged with Dogan Group. And now Ditaş, since from the begining has become one of the most important suppliers for all companies in automotive industry. Last time the company has grown steadily and different productions by entering into new areas. At 2016 a new structuring strategy has begun and now it is continueing. A new road map drawn according to the investments and new areas. Until today Ditaş manufactured for only automotive main industry and aftermarket companies, but now our distribution area strengthening day by day and customer range are changing. Consequently we have a new logistic base 2.000 squaremeters in Russia. In addition, activities in America and purpose of strengthening exports there, Ditaş LLC in New Jersey was opened. We have some new projects in also Germany and France.
As Ditaş, you are conducting important studies on R&D. What is the approach of the company in this area and the studies it has done in general?
From an industrial point of view, your design capability and R&D are must. In the beginning of 2018, we became an R&D center approved by the Ministry of Industry in Turkey. Currently, 41 engineers and technical personnel work in our R&D center in Niğde. A significant number of these people come from universities in the region, completing their school with top grades. From the universities in the region, we wanted the best students from the 3rd grade from the fields such as machinery, mechatronics and electronics. We hired a more general assessment, despite having studied at school. The knowledge we will obtain here will give us momentum and strength to enter new sectors. Our main goal is the automotive sector, but basically we are moving through 4 main sectors / areas.
As Ditaş, you have a significant share in the commercial vehicle, passenger car and aftermarket. What is the most important area you are in?
Automotive is our strongest muscle. Commercial vehicles stand out here. 80% commercial, 20% passenger car. We continue to grow and develop in these areas with different projects. They are outside rail systems, agricultural machinery and defense / aviation industry other areas that we want to grow.
Its agricultural side is actually a field where we are not very strong but we aim to be strong. Other than that, we installed the rail system. We have a lot of cooperation and work in this field. In addition to these, we attach great importance to aviation and defense industry. In addition to these, we attach great importance to aviation and defense industry. We are among the suppliers in the parts group. We supply parts for different projects. It is necessary to add an investment.
