The Turkish manufacturer has plans to start selling buses in the UK following the launch of its right hand drive e-JEST in Japan
Expanding Turkish manufacturer says it has its sights set on the UK market following the launch of a right-hand drive model in Japan.
Speaking about the company’s recent successes, Deputy General Manager of Karsan Muzaffer Arpacıoğlu said: “We continue to take important steps as part of our vision of being ‘One Step Ahead in the Future of Mobility’ and Karsan Electric ‘e-volution’ journey. Just 3 years after launching our first electric model, we became the first brand to offer the full e-range in all sizes from six to 18 metres. We are also the only European brand that can offer electric, hydrogen and autonomous technologies in public transportation at the same time. As of today, in 23 countries more than 1,100 Karsan electric buses provide environmentally friendly and high comfort services to the people. We have already reached an experience of more than 160 million kilometres, which guides us in developing both our existing vehicles and our new vehicles. Our goal is to become a global mobility leader in our industry and make Karsan a global brand. This year, we aim to maintain our position at the top by increasing our growth rate in the electric segment. We have also put other right-hand drive countries on our agenda after the Japanese market. In this context, we plan to introduce the right-hand drive e-JEST to the UK market at the end of this year.”
In its home market in Türkiye, Karsan says it has reinforced its leadership in the electric and autonomous vehicle field with the delivery of 60 e-JEST vehicles to Aselsan and two autonomous e-ATAK vehicles which are in use at Istanbul Technical University and the Presidential Complex. Deputy General Manager Muzaffer Arpacıoğlu says the firm acts with a ‘start-up’ spirit with 60 years of automotive experience and a work team of 2,600 people, adding that Karsan is rapidly progressing towards becoming a preferred brand in a wide geography from North America to Japan: “We have made significant progress in the North American market in a short period of time.
We have now delivered 153 e-JEST vehicles to North America for service in Canada and the US. In addition, at the end of last year, we introduced the first right-hand drive e-JEST to the Japanese market and became the first European electric bus brand in Japan,” he explained. “Japan was our first market to which we exported right-hand drive models. With our last vehicle, the 12-metre e-ATAK Hydrogen, we have achieved another first in Europe. Our vehicle, which has the best features of its class with a range of more than 500 kilometres and a capacity of 95 passengers, offers a remarkable performance with a filling speed of only seven minutes.”
