FORD_SRDE_2018

12 MESSAGE OF THE CHAIRMAN Dear Stakeholders, Global economy is being reshaped by various trends. One of the most important requirements to become successful in today’s business world is to meet the requirements of trends such as climate change, new demographic dynamics, urbanisation and varying consumer behaviours. Automotive industry is one of the most affected industries by this rapid transformation process due to its comprehensive vertical and horizontal relations with other business lines. The winds of change in the automotive industry should be closely monitored for the sake of the future of Turkish economy since it has been the locomotive sector in exportation for many years by attracting large scale foreign capital investments. Automotive is also one of the leading industries that rapidly adopt and implement the requirements of Industry 4.0. Technology; and digital innovations reshape business processes, products and services, means of working and social relations. The Internet of Things, mobile devices, cloud information technologies and automation transform production processes. In line with the varying stakeholder demands and digitalisation, automotive industry also inclines toward vehicles with lower emission levels, electric vehicles and vehicles powered by alternative fuels. One of the factors that determine the competitive power of today’s companies is innovation competency. We consider R&D and innovation as the keys to resolve environmental and social issues and offer solutions that are in line with the global trends. We would like to contribute to transportation ecosystem through the technologies and smart vehicles we develop to make it more efficient, cleaner and more reliable. In 1982, we established the İnönü Factory and carried our competitiveness in truck business to another level. Today, we are proud to be the first Turkish company that has the engineering capacity to develop, design and fabricate a vehicle including its engine. This year, we launched the F-MAX, the first tow truck developed and fabricated from scratch in Turkey in a world premiere. The International Truck of the Year Award that we have been presented for this truck constitutes a prestigious recognition of our production power and engineering skills. The in-house Fikirhane (Idea Factory) platform with the purpose of improving our innovation competency has started to bear its fruits. The Rezervis project which was shaped with the ideas of our employees has been deemed suitable for commercialisation and began its activities under the umbrella of a newly established company. Ford Otosan supports the company by holding 25% of its shares. As a result of all these works, in 2018, we witnessed significant achievements at Ford Otosan. Despite the shrinkage in Turkish automotive market - which had a negative impact on our domestic sale figures – we maintained our traditional leadership in commercial vehicle segment with a market share that increased to 30.8%. Our turnover attained the level of We would like to contribute to transportation ecosystem through the technologies and smart vehicles we develop to make it more efficient, cleaner and more reliable.