Otokar

Otokar Otomotiv ve Savunma Sanayi A.Ş., also known simply as Otokar, is a Turkish bus and military vehicle manufacturer headquartered in Sakarya, Turkey. Otokar is a subsidiary of Koç Holding.

History

Otokar was founded in 1963 as Turkey's first bus manufacturing company under the license of Magirus-Deutz. The company was noted for manufacturing the most modern buses and modern intercity vehicles for that period. In the early 1980s, Otokar started production of Deutz-powered vehicles with local components. During this period, Turkey's largest conglomerate, Koç Holding, purchased major share of Otokar. Within its public transportation strategies in the early 1980s, the company added intercity bus to its lineup.

In the mid-1980s, Otokar manufactured the first Turkish armoured vehicle as an armoured car by acquiring the manufacturing license of Jaguar Land Rover. In 1987, the Turkish Armed Forces ordered Otokar to manufacture military Land Rover Defender in Turkey in cooperation with Land Rover.

Vehicles

Minibuses

Otokar produces the famous Deutz F4L912-powered, 80S minibuses based on the TAM 80T50 light truck. They have held the largest percentage by far among all dolmuş es (share taxis) in Istanbul and Ankara since their introduction in the 1970s. These 14-seat minibuses are particularly known for their cubic shape, durability, long life expectancy, and low operation costs. M-2000, M-3000, and M-2010 were the latest models from this series, which began some time ago under a different coding system. Initially, the vehicles were named Magirus after their engines, but as the company built confidence among its customers, the company started using their own brand name. The last member of the series, M-2010 has an Iveco engine, the first time Deutz engines were abandoned in this series.

Centro

Buses

Otokar manufactures several buses for civilian mass transit use. Its line of Navigo buses range from the Navigo 125L with 25 seats and 6.3 m in length to the Navigo 160SE with 31 seats at 7.1 m in length. All small bus models use a 4.4L Cummins 145 PS Euro 6 diesel engine. The Navigo is marketed as the Sultan in Turkey. The larger, more luxurious models have a 45-litre refrigerator, hostess seat, announcement system, optional additional heater and optional double-layer glass, DVD, VCD, MP3 player and LCD TV systems. Since April 2007, Otokar has also started to manufacture a new 9-meter, rear-engined bus called Doruk in Turkey and Vectio in other markets.

Otokar is the bus supplier for Inter Trust of Bulgaria.

In February 2020, Otokar signed an agreement with Iveco Bus for production of Iveco Buses in Turkey. Kent is the low floor full-size bus line-up of Otokar used by many operators. It also features a E-Kent electric bus and a Kent XL metrobus.

Navigo

Doruk and Vectio

Kent

Trailers and superstructures

Otokar manufactures a wide variety of trailers and superstructures for carrying textiles, refrigerated foods, heavy mechanical goods, hazardous materials, and motor vehicles.

Utility

Otokar, under the Land Rover license, produced several Land Rover variants and models until 2016. These include the Land Rover Defender 90, Defender 110, and Defender 130 for use as utility, ambulance, and rescue vehicles.

Military

Otokar produces wheeled military vehicles for the Turkish Armed Forces as well as other countries.

Altay MBT—the Turkish national main battle tank
Otokar Arma—6x6/8x8 wheeled-armoured vehicle.[3]
Otokar Armoured Internal Security Vehicle—for usage in urban and residential areas with variants equipped as command vehicles, personnel carriers, explosive ordnance disposal vehicles, reconnaissance/surveillance vehicles, and water cannon vehicles.[4]
Otokar Armoured Patrol Vehicle (APV)—a versatile 4x4 armoured vehicle adaptable to a wide range of military and security roles.[5] Exported to Bahrain, Bangladesh, Algeria, Iraq and Pakistan.[6]

Former

Otokar 80S5.5 (1990–2000)
Otokar M-2000 (2000–2010)
Otokar M-3000 (2008–2011)
Otokar M-2010 (2009–2014)
Land Rover Defender (1984–2016)

type	Public
foundation	1963
hq location city	Arifiye, Sakarya
hq location country	Turkey
area served	Europe, Middle East, Central Asia, Africa
industry	Automotive & Defense
products	Buses Trucks Trailers Military vehicles
parent	Koç Holding
subsid	Otokar Europe SAS (France) Otokar Land Systems LLC (UAE) Otokar Europe Filiala Bucuresti SRL (Romania) Otokar Central Asia Limited (Kazakhstan)
revenue	US$982 million (2024)
operating income	$87 million (2023)
net income	$71 million (2023)
assets	$1.28 billion (2024)
equity	$291 million (2023)
num employees	3580 (2023)
footnotes	‡R1R‡