The assembly operations were established on the Mersa Otomotiv plant in the city of Sakarya, 150km away from Istanbul, with the key components and vehicle systems being delivered from Russia, while other components – propeller shafts, wheel discs, batteries, braking system elements – are purchased locally from Turkish manufacturers.

The firm, part of Russia’s largest diversified industrial group Basic Element, has already set up its local dealer network and trained local specialists. In total, 24 dealer centres and 38 certified service stations have been set up in seven regions of the country.

Earlier this year GAZ obtained the unified European vehicle type approval permitting to sell GAZelle NEXT vehicles in the European Union.

Vadim Sorokin, GAZ group president, said: ‘We offer to our Turkish customers the vehicle combining excellent functionality with low cost of ownership and the best price in the class. The Turkish market is one of the highly competitive markets where the majority of global OEMs are present. However, I am sure that customers will appreciate the advantages of the Russian vehicle.’

Gaz added that the export share within its commercial vehicle sales has risen from 13% to 18% for the last two years, driven by the sales increase in the CIS, South-Eastern Asia, North Africa and Middle East.