Posted by meb at March 16th, 2007

Initiatives of Chinese firms to access the Turkish auto market have been blocked. Chinese Jinling double-decker buses, which are produced by Zhong Da, carried passengers for only two weeks in İstanbul’s streets before they were outlawed.
 The Turkish Patent Agency (TSE) cancelled the buses’ certificate of conformity and the İstanbul Electric Trolley and Tunnels Administration (İETT) banned the usage of these buses for public transportation. Six double-decker buses were in use before the ban and the owner of the buses filed a lawsuit against the İETT after they took affirmative notification from another department of TSE. Ali Rıza Üstün, owner of the İstanbul Motor Company, brought the buses to Turkey, importing 15 at first. If their certification had not been cancelled Üstün would have continued their import. Before the cancellation, six of the 12 buses were sold to users with 121,000-euro bank loans. Six customers had applied for bank loans. Because of this cancellation three of the buses were held up at customs. After the bans, worth $2.5 million, Üstün could not sell them and had to pay the installments of the bank loans on behalf of the bus owners. The price of domestically manufactured double-deckers, which are already used for public transportation, is 165,000 euros and the price of a Hungarian bus is 190,000-200,000 euros.

“If I would sell the buses for 140,000 euros rather than 121,000 euros they would not be banned. The decision was made because of those who lost their benefits wanted to pressure [the government],” Üstün claimed.

He said that he had faced many bureaucratic obstacles when he wanted to import buses from China since the beginning. Üstün added automobile dealers in Turkey were negotiating with Chinese firms and he claimed the bans would be revoked after they dealt with those firms. “They did not want us to access the market early. The permits will be granted in the second half of 2007,” he said.

source: Today’s Zaman

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