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Interview

Coşkunöz Holding leads the way with state-of-the-art indigenous technology in key industries

Coskunöz Holding CEO Erdem ACAY shares insight into the 70 year company history in key industries such as the automotive industry, defense and aviation, environmental technologies and information technologies. With 12 companies Coşkunöz Holding follows technological developments in the new global balance in line with their strategic targets, concentrating on high value-added products and technologies. In this interview we find out more about how UAVERA aims to develop and produce optimum and indigenous products in line with the requirements of military and civilian stakeholders, and the latest developments on the Çağatay VTOL. In addition to UAV and military projects, the company plans to provide services and products to semi-private and private enterprises in areas such as surveillance, detection, tracking and maintenance.

Date: Issue 105 - April 2021

Defence Turkey: First of all, thank you for your time for the interview. Let’s start off with the history of  the company.  Could you take us back to the roots of Coşkunöz Holding and how it has made a name for itself especially in the automotive industry?

Erdem ACAY: The foundation of Coşkunöz Holding dates back to the 1950s, when our founder M. Kemal Coşkunöz, who was a teacher, established the SKT Company with two partners and afterwards established his own workshop. The first patented fabric marking machine production in Turkey was made in 1950 by our founder Kemal Coşkunöz. He established his own workshop in Bursa after he separated from SKT in 1960 and started Sheet Metal Bending Steel Joinery Profile manufacturing and the first steel bus body production was made in Turkey in 1963. In 1966, the foundations of the Metal Form factory were laid and for the first time, a driver's cab was produced for Fiat. In 1969, the mass production of the Turkish Tractor Body was initiated. In 1973, after the conversion of K.Coşkunöz Company into a joint stock company, the mass production of Oyak Renault body parts started. In 1990, the first sheet metal forming molds were exported to Isuzu Belford (UK) and Opel (Germany). In 1991, the export of transport and containment crates produced from aluminum alloys for the defense industry launched. From the 1990's to the 2000's, the Holding continued to grow and pioneered in different sectors with new brands. Coşkunöz Defense and Aerospace Company was established in Eskişehir in 2006. In 2007, it received the AS/EN 9100 Certificate and the TUSAŞ Supplier Approval Certificate. Coşkunöz Metal Form Company received the best supplier award from Citroen in 2011. Coşkunöz Metal Form, performing services for PSA (Peugeot Citroen Group) in mold production, became one of the two companies awarded by PSA in the field of capital goods quality worldwide. In the same year, Coşkunöz Defense and Aerospace was selected as a "Gold subcontractor" by TUSAŞ. In 2015, Coşkunöz Defense and Aerospace started the mid-body assembly project of KAI's Korean Utility Helicopter KUH Surion. Last year, Coşkunöz Holding acquired İVME İHS, which operates in the field of unmanned aerial systems, and stepped into the production and development of UAV technologies with İVME İHS, with its new name UAVERA.