50-year-old Turkish seat belt maker Ark Pres was among the host of debutants at Busworld India this year. The family-owned company has close to 80 per cent market share in the bus & coach sector in Turkey with its manufacturing plant strategically located near the major seat makers’ facilities in the region, enabling it to provide very quick response to queries and service requests from customers.
Ark Pres has been supplying seat belts to customers in the Indian market for over a year and is actively working on expanding its customer base and gaining a strong foothold in India.
Mr. Burak Kasim, Commercial Affairs Director, Ark Pres Emniyet Kemeri San. Tic. A.S., part of the second generation of the family that owns the company, says: “We are aggressively expanding our global presence and are currently exporting to 29 countries around the world. India is one of our main focus regions at present and we believe a lot in the market.”
“We will invest in India and have big plans for the market because we know the volumes will be big here in the future. We currently supply seat belts to seven customers who make seats to the tractor and off-highway segments. Today we are supplying the products directly from our plant in Turkey but as the volumes pick up we will certainly look at setting up a local manufacturing facility. We have an office in Pune and an Indian Director who handles our business in the region.” he added.
The company is scouting for a local partner and hopes to finalize a partnership by year-end. “We are in the process of identifying a partner in India and will finalize the same by end of the year. We want to go one step at a time because our focus is on long-term business and not to make quick money. We are an ethical company and want to ensure our brand image and company values are maintained.”
“We have learnt a lot from our understanding of the Indian market and are glad that we have a very good person as our Indian Director who keeps us informed about the developments and trends in the market”, adds Mr. Kasim.
Indian market potential
The Turkish market is known for the dozens of seat makers that produce seats locally, a scenario that came up thanks to the safety regulations that kicked in the country many years ago. With India at the cusp of a massive road safety revolution, Ark Pres is keen on being part of the ‘India-safety’ growth story.
“We had a big boom in business when safety regulations were introduced in Turkey. We are sure the same will happen in India sooner or later and want to be part of the growth. The Indian government is pushing for improving safety with regulations mandating seat belts and roll bars in tractors coming in by 2019. In future, we see seat belts getting mandated in buses as well. These are the segments we are targeting and it gives us huge potential for the future”, he shares.