'World Automotive Meetings' started in Bursa

Speaking at the opening of the organization held at Merinos Atatürk Congress and Culture Center, Canan Ünlü Şahin, Head of Clustering Department of the General Directorate of R&D Incentives of the Ministry of Industry and Technology, said that the global automotive industry is experiencing one of the biggest and fastest transformations in its history.

Stating that the automotive industry has now turned into a wide ecosystem centered on software, artificial intelligence, electric vehicle technologies and green energy, Şahin said, "We are witnessing the rapid transformation of the traditional automotive industry, from autonomous driving systems to micromobility solutions, towards a new generation smart transportation architecture."

Noting that companies need to have a more digital, green, innovative and high value-added structure in this rapid change process, Şahin shared the following:

"This twin transformation, which expresses digitalization and sustainability, has become the main lever of our competitiveness in global markets. The European Green Deal, the Border Carbon Regulation Mechanism and the new regulations in the global supply chain are no longer just environmental targets, but directly form the basis of competitiveness. We have full faith that the Turkish automotive industry can quickly adapt to this transformation with its main industry, strong sub-industry and engineering capability. The success of this transformation undoubtedly depends on our ability to act together. At this point, we are Bursa OSB Smart Transportation and "We will continue to support the Mobility Cluster within the scope of the Cluster Support Program."

Underlining that, as the Ministry of Industry and Technology, they will continue their determination to accelerate the transformation of the industry, improve the institutional capacity of enterprises and increase their international competitiveness, Şahin stated that they will develop the supports that the sector will need in line with the decisions to be taken and the regulations to be introduced at the COP31 Meeting hosted by Türkiye and that they will take a proactive role in this process.

Ertuğrul Tuna Arıcı, Member of the Board of Directors of Uludağ Automotive Industry Exporters Association, stated that they, as the union, have been continuing their work with the mission of developing Türkiye's automotive exports since 1991.

Stating that the automotive industry reached a record level of exports of 35.5 billion dollars last year, Arıcı said, "We have become the export champion among all sectors 19 times in the last 20 years. We continue to be the locomotive of our country's exports. We will continue our leadership by improving our export record at the end of 2026."

Arıcı stated that they are proud of the achievements of the automotive industry so far, but do not consider the current level sufficient, and noted that they aim to further increase the export value of the sector with high value-added products.

Emphasizing that, as an association, they have implemented many projects in order to be an important part of the transformation experienced by the Turkish automotive industry and continue to develop productive collaborations in many areas from education to innovation, Arıcı continued his words as follows:

"In the coming period, we aim to expand and strengthen our existing activities in line with the developments in the automotive industry and to prepare our exports for this transformation with new activities. We will continue to work in close cooperation with industry stakeholders in Bursa and throughout the country during this transformation process."