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Turkey's Otokar sets up joint venture with Romania's Automecanica SA to produce armoured vehicles

15 may 2025

Turkish company Otokar, a manufacturer of military and heavy commercial vehicles, has announced the establishment of a joint venture with Romanian defence company Automecanica SA for the local production of Cobra II armoured vehicles in Romania. The joint venture will be based in Romania and will focus not only on production but also on engineering, marketing and after-sales activities. BalkanEngineer.com has learned this from an announcement by the Turkish company.

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The news comes in the context of an already signed contract between Otokar and Romanian state-owned Romtehnica worth 4.26 billion lei (about 855.9 million euros), concluded in November 2024. The agreement provides for the delivery of 1,059 Cobra II 4x4 ATBTU light armoured vehicles to the Romanian armed forces.

 

The first 278 vehicles will be manufactured in Turkey and delivered directly, with the remainder to be assembled at the new plant in Romania. Deliveries are expected to start in the last quarter of 2025 and continue in phases over the next five years.

 

The joint venture will be owned equally by Otokar Land Systems SRL and Automecanica SA, with a 50% stake each. Automecanica operates a plant in the city of Medias where it already produces special purpose vehicles, truck bodies and trailers for civil and military purposes.

 

According to a statement from Otokar's CEO, Aykut Özüner, the agreement is a "strategic step" in the company's efforts to expand its presence in the European market. And Automecanica's chairman, Andrei Scobiola, stressed that the cooperation will contribute to Romania's economy and strengthen the country's capacity in the defense industry sector.

 

The COBRA II model, on which the production is focused, is an armoured tactical platform with a modular design used in over 13 countries. The machines are adaptable to various military and police missions, including reconnaissance, command and control, and personnel transport.

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Photo source: ©Engineer BG via Canva.com

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