Volkswagen registers unit in Turkey prior production decision

Volkswagen has a subsidiary now in Turkey’s western Manisa province, the country’s Trade Registry Gazette revealed on Wednesday, as the company gets close to a final decision on the location for its new production plant.

The Turkey unit is going to have 943.5 million lira ($164.21 million) capital and the parent company had paid a quarter of that amount, the gazette stated. The remainder is going to be paid in the next two years.

The unit will concentrate on designing, producing and assembling automobiles, trucks and other vehicles, the gazette stated.

VW had been looking into a possible new plant located in eastern Europe, with Bulgaria known to be one of the countries considered together with Turkey.

A board member of the German automaker informed reporters last week in Berlin that the company is close to a decision on building the new plant in Turkey.

A spokesman for Volkswagen informed Reuters on Wednesday that the company was still in the last stages of negotiation and that it had not made a final decision on the factory.

A deal in Turkey could be politically controversial since European Union concerns regarding what it observes as constraints on freedom of expression and demonstration rights under President Tayyip Erdogan.

Volkswagen states that Turkey is a candidate for EU membership.