Mustafa V. Koç: “The process lying ahead is as critical as the process that we have been going through for the last two years”

Evaluating the global crisis environment affecting Turkey in the speech he delivered at the Arçelik Authorized Dealers Meeting, Mustafa V. Koç, the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Koç Holding, said, “As you all know very well, the world economy has been undergoing a huge financial turbulence since October 2008. The impacts of this turbulence were felt in Turkey as well as the entire world in 2009, too. Although we have entered a period in which the impacts of the crisis are diminishing, it is a fact that the process to come is at least as important as the process that we have been going through for the last two years”. Mustafa V. Koç added, “However, from a comparative point of view, Turkey was less affected than Continental Europe, England and the USA”.

“We have moved on with measures taken in a timely and swift manner”
Pointing out that this process actually includes many lessons for all the economic actors, Mustafa V. Koç continued: “This process also revealed that the change in the economic balances in the world needs to be analyzed very well to benefit Turkey. Despite this tough environment that the world and Turkey is undergoing, I must say with pride that we, as Koç Group, have benefitted from the fact that we monitor the developments in the world well and we cooperate with all our business partners, dealers and employees.” Stating that they had the opportunity to mitigate the problems after the 2001 crisis through export markets, Mustafa V. Koç said, “But this time, we had to take very serious measures as there were problems both domestically and internationally. We cut down on our loans and we monitored our spending very carefully. Then, the tax discount from April to October 30 enabled the sales to return to normal levels”.

Noting that the durable goods sector is one of the four main branches that Koç Group determined as a necessity of the focused growth strategy, Mustafa V. Koç said that Arçelik, the leader of the durable goods sector, remains to be one of the leading and dynamic actors for the race of growth that has been going on since past into present for Koç Group and that the authorized dealers throughout Turkey have great contribution and effort in such achievement.

Aka Gündüz Özdemir: “Arçelik A.Ş. has maintained its position on top with first and second places with its two brands in the domestic sector”

Speaking at the Arçelik Authorized Dealers Meeting, Aka Gündüz Özdemir, the President of the Durable Goods Group of Koç Holding, said “Our strong existence in the durable goods sector has been gained through the right strategies and teamwork maintained with resolution for years. We have reached such successes with the superior efforts that we have shown together. It is seen that the companies with permanent success in the world have attained perfection on a local scale and determined their strategic approaches correctly on a global scale”.

Expressing that Arçelik A.Ş. has been preserving its top status in the first and second positions domestically in the sector with its two brands and also that the company has been maintaining a considerably rapid organic growth abroad, Özdemir continued: “Our well-established business culture from the past ensures and will continue ensuring that we always stay on our own route during hard times. And in the new period to come, we will continue to offer our consumers high quality products complying with world standards in the best manner and through efficient marketing strategies. I especially would like to emphasize that we have become stronger with this strategy that we have created”.

Çakıroğlu: “We are focusing on the strategies and business models to make Arçelik one of the leading companies under the new economic and commercial conditions of the world.”

Speaking at the Arçelik Authorized Dealers Meeting, Levent Çakıroğlu, the General Manager of Arçelik A.Ş, said, “We are about to enter an era that the business processes will be inquired in the light of the lessons learnt from the crisis in the business life and new business models will be sought”. Çakıroğlu continued: “When we consider Turkey, a growth of 4-5% is expected in 2010. During the period to come, it will not be surprising if the economies of the developing countries stand out more and these countries have more to say in the international political and economic decisions, and the center of weight of the world changes. We are also renewing ourselves in this great process of change and transformation of the world. We are focusing on the strategies and business models to make Arçelik one of the leading companies under the new economic and commercial conditions of the world”.

“Arçelik A.Ş. is the company with the highest increase in market share in West Europe”
Noting that despite the negative developments in the world markets, Arçelik continued to increase market share in the markets of activity in 2009, Çakıroğlu said that Arçelik group is the company with the highest increase in market share in West Europe. Saying, “We completed 2009 successfully with a consolidated turnover of approximately TL 6.6 billion. In 2009, 52% of our consolidated turnover consisted of our international sales”, Çakıroğlu also said that at present, Arçelik is one of the leading actors of the sector engaging in activities in the international arena. Çakıroğlu continued: “Our goal from now on is to carry our company to greater goals with our new vision. We will continue developing environment friendly, innovative products that enhance the standards of living of our customers and producing the “most”s and “first”s. We express this point of views of ours as ‘Respects the Globe, Respected Globally’ in our new vision to carry us on to the future”.

Şirzat Subaşı; “Arçelik is the best known brand of Turkey that comes to mind first”

Şirzat Subaşı, Arçelik A.Ş. Assistant General Manager of Sales for Turkey, Middle East, Africa and Turkic Republics, on the other hand, stated that the increase in standard of living with transition to urban life and the increase in the number of houses with transition to the small family life from large family life constitute an important opportunity for the sector, in the speech that he delivered. Noting that the total market covered 4.900.000 units despite a downsizing of 4% last year, Subaşı said that they expect this category to exceed 5 million units again next year. Saying, “Our brands have maintained their stable positions in this market for years. Today, the share of our brands is over 50% in the total market of Turkey”, Subaşı emphasized that Arçelik is a big brand at this point with its wide, high quality product range, service organization ensuring great satisfaction, diverse sales practices and accessibility anywhere in Turkey. Pointing out that the consumers preferring Arçelik today associate the brand with the concepts, ‘reliable, aesthetic, high quality, technological, innovative and honored, Subaşı continued: “In the category of all brands, Arçelik is the one that is best known and that comes to mind first.”