MAN has officially begun the series production of its fully electric city bus, the Lion’s City E, at its Ankara factory. This follows a successful process initiated at the beginning of September with the first Lion’s City E rolling off the production line, after which all tests and preparations were successfully completed. With the series production of the MAN Lion’s City E, Ankara has become one of the company’s most important competence centers for battery-electric bus production.
MAN Takes a Significant Step Towards Zero Emissions
Barbaros Oktay, Head of MAN Truck & Bus Bus Unit, stated that they have taken a very important step on the path to zero emissions with the start of electric bus production in Ankara, adding: “The restructuring we initiated in Ankara is an integral part of MAN’s transformation process towards a sustainable future. With the steps we have taken and the investments we have made here, we have laid the foundation for offering high volumes and superior quality emission-free mobility solutions in the long term. Today, as a result of these efforts, the start of electric bus production in Ankara is an important milestone in MAN’s e-mobility journey. With this investment, we are strengthening our bus production network and can more effectively meet the increasing global demand for emission-free urban transportation solutions. Expanding electric bus production to include the Turkey location will allow us to respond more flexibly to customer demands and optimize delivery times.”
Ankara Becomes an E-Mobility Hub
Mehmet Şermet, CEO of MAN Turkey A.Ş., emphasized the increasing strategic importance of Ankara within MAN’s global production network: “Turkey has always held a special place for MAN. We are proud to realize a new first today at our factory, which was MAN’s first production facility outside Germany. With the series production of the fully electric city bus MAN Lion’s City E, Ankara has become one of the company’s important e-mobility centers. Thanks to the superior competence of our employees and the significant investments we have made in infrastructure and equipment over the last two years, we have successfully carried out this transformation. With our flexible structure that can produce all electric and conventional buses on the same line, we will export the technology of the future from Ankara to the world.”
Future Plans: Lion’s Coach E to be Produced in Ankara
More than half of MAN’s urban buses currently rolling off the production line are electric, reflecting the company’s significant investments in zero-emission transportation solutions. To meet this growing demand, the production infrastructure and employees in Ankara have been prepared in line with e-mobility requirements in recent months, and the facility has been gradually transformed. In addition to the MAN Lion’s City E, the new MAN Lion’s Coach E, developed for the travel sector, and electric intercity buses are also planned to be produced in Turkey in the future.
