Major Turkish automaker, Tofas, a joint venture between Koc Holding and Stellantis, has announced two weeks of production stoppage as of Jan. 2.
“Due to the end-of-year stock taking and programmed maintenance activities, manufacturing activities at our Bursa factory will be suspended from Jan. 2 to Jan. 14,” the company said in a regulatory filing.
The plant would restart manufacturing operations from Jan. 15, Tofas said.
The producer previously announced Dec. 9 it laid off 13% of its workers after deciding in September to continue production with one shift after suspending production for more than a month from July 16 amid low demand.
Tofas has a vehicle production capacity of 450,000 units/year.
Turkey’s vehicle production declined 8.9% year over year to 1.36 million units over January-November 2024, while vehicle exports fell 1.2% to 1 million units, according to the latest Turkish Automotive Manufacturers’ Association data.
Platts, part of S&P Global Commodity Insights, assessed Turkish HRC at $565/mt ex-works Dec. 27, down 20% since the start of 2024.
