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PPG to Establish Auto Coatings Plant in Turkey

9 February 1998

PPG to Establish Auto Coatings Plant in Turkey

    ISTANBUL, Turkey, Feb. 9 -- PPG Industries of the
United States is establishing an automotive coatings production facility at
Bursa in western Turkey, about 100 miles (160 kilometers) south of Istanbul
across the Sea of Marmara.
    PPG, headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pa., is the world's leading producer of
automotive and industrial coatings.
    James Rayne, managing director of the company's coatings activities in
Turkey, said PPG has purchased a year-old building which is being equipped to
produce original equipment and refinish coatings.
    "The operation, incorporating full laboratory and warehouse facilities,
will substantially enhance our product and service capabilities to support
expansion of automotive and industrial coatings customers in Turkey, as well
as throughout the Eastern Europe and Middle East regions for which Turkey is
so well-placed," he said.
    According to Rayne, PPG will begin making electrodeposition primer
materials at Bursa by midyear, and then expand production rapidly to a full
line of automotive coatings.  The plant, which he noted is in the heartland of
Turkey's growing automotive industry, will initially employ about 15 people.
    Rayne said PPG has also opened a regional automotive refinish center in
Maslak, Istanbul.  Equipped with latest-technology spray facilities, it
provides comprehensive application training as well as technical and color
support for auto body repair technicians and refinish coatings distributor
personnel in Turkey and the Middle East.  It also handles regional refinish
order administration.
    PPG, with 1997 sales of US$7.4 billion, is also a global producer of flat
and fabricated glass, fiber glass and chemicals.

SOURCE  PPG Industries