Company’s mechatronics solutions evoke excellent response
The Turkish firm Makersan has been providing mechatronic solutions for the automotive industry since 1978. It provides an integrated environment for developing and managing mechanic and electronic contents in automotive controls with the design and manufacture of accelerator pedals with contactless sensor, throttle levers, pressure sensors, rotary position sensors, speed sensors and temperature sensors.
Makersan, with its large International customer base from across bus, truck and construction equipment segments, made its debut at Busworld India this year. We met Mr. Oktay Pehlivanoglu, Global Marketing Director, Makersan, and Mr. Vikram Kalaskar, Director – Business development, Makersan India, to find out their intent in being present at the show and plans for the Indian market.
Excerpts:
What are you trying to communicate to the industry by being present at Busworld India? What is your focus at the show?
Oktay Pehlivanoglu (OP): We are trying to communicate that we are present in the Indian market, which means Indian bus manufacturers now have a chance to provide bus entry solutions from a world-renowned company. The Indian bus market is the second largest in the world and has great potential in terms of quantity and demand of quality. We are known for our quality products and expect a rise in demand for better quality from Indian bus customers and passengers which will drive manufacturers to seek and use better quality products.
Vikram Kalaskar (VK): We are mainly present here to gather momentum and interact with potential customers. Our focus is to reach bus manufactures as well as bus body builders. The Indian market is very big, and most of the customers presently do not use the kind of products we offer. Most of the buses are currently available only with mechanical locks. Remote locks aren’t that popular here, which means we have a lot of scope for sales in India.
What are the major products and technologies you offer for the bus industry?
OP: We have displayed a number of new products and technologies here that are new for the Indian market. We are launching a new emergency door designed especially for India with features like micro indication switch and automatic actuations. We are also offering single key solution for complete range of bus locks, i.e., luggage flaps, driver & passenger doors, engine hoods, partition and toilet doors, etc. This means there will be a single key for all the locks which a great innovation that would benefit the bus driver as he need not carry a bundle of keys with him.
VK: We are a complete system provider, and in case a customer requires only a part of our system, we could supply that too. We have products and solutions for emergency door opening, electronic accelerator pedals, brake pedals, keypads for door opening, capacitance touch sensors, acceleration sensors and hand throttles, all in different versions. Our solutions include single key solutions for various doors in coach, remote control openings of doors and remote opening of coach door from driver work area.
Who are your major customers globally? Have you started supplies to customers in India as well?
VK: Globally we work with many European and American OEMs like MAN, Mercedes, Van Hool and Iveco, among others. In India, we are currently supplying to Daimler, Scania, Tata Motors and the MG Group.
Where are your products made and how do you supply them to customers in India?
VK: Our products are manufactured at our plant in Turkey and imported into India. In 2017, we are planning to officially register Makersan’s Indian office and initially provide Indian billing to OEMs and bus makers while also creating local distribution centres for the aftermarket to be able to serve our customers better.