Trabzon Otomotiv Sanayi A.Ş (also simply known as Trabzon Otosan) is an automobile manufacturer and service provider in the Second Empire of Trabzon. Based in the city of Trabzon, it was founded in 2023 by the country's military ruler, General Cengiz Akyüz. The company is a semi-private entity that is owned by Akyüz and allegedly financed through a mix of private investors and appropriated state funds. Trabzon Otosan operates a chain of automotive repair and service shops for government fleet vehicles. As many of these vehicles were of foreign origin, Trabzon Otosan also became responsible for sourcing their associated parts from external suppliers - and finding substitutes in the case of vehicles whose production manufacturers had either closed long ago or been destroyed in the nuclear exchange.
Trabzon Otosan currently owns a factory where it assembles an all-terrain vehicle known as the Kalesi, which was notably built from recycled parts of vintage Willys M38A1 and M151 jeeps.
History[]
Trabzon's military regime had long perceived semi-state corporatism as one of the tenets of political stability. To reduce the possibility of political or pressure from the civilian elites that played a key role in local economic sectors prior to Doomsday, the regime became dependent on state parastatals essentially owned and managed by the military. Some members of Trabzon's ruling Administrative Council also pursued their own shadowy state-supported enterprises. By the late 2000s, this complex mix of state-owned and semi-private enterprises built and maintained key infrastructure such as roads, bridges, housing blocks, and highways, in addition to providing essential services to the state.
A municipal vehicle undergoing overhaul at a Trabzon Otosan service center.
Trabzon Otosan was set up as one such enterprise to refurbish and repair government vehicles, largely for the military - it was in part financed from the defense budget. However, it was also awarded contracts by the state to service other government fleet vehicles, including buses, tractors, and police cars. The need was particularly pressing, as an internal audit in 2020 revealed that state-owned vehicles spent an average of 162 hours per year per vehicle waiting for service.
From mid 2023 to mid 2024, Trabzon Otosan opened a dozen repair facilities throughout the country, which were overseen by a central service department in the capital. Many of these were old garages and other types of structures that were repurposed and re-equipped to overhaul vehicles, with seven bays apiece on average. The central service department ran its own shop and depots, and allocated parts and personnel to the other facilities. It also specialized in procuring new auto parts from international suppliers, namely in the Caucasus and central Asia. Many of the old prewar trucks and buses of Turkish and American origin were restored to running condition using odd parts and pieces including refurbished Soviet diesel engines, which were easier to source from the company's suppliers.
In December 2023, the company announced it would be opening a chain of petrol stations in the capital and three of Trabzon's other large cities, believed to be Giresun, Ordu, and Rize. Simultaneously, Trabzon's Administrative Council announced a crackdown on illegal sellers of petrol, which had long been a common sight in these cities and served as the primary source of fuel for private motorists and freight. Critics of the move argued that this was an attempt by the military regime to establish a monopoly on the sale and distribution of petrol. The new petrol stations would include attached repair shops, indicating for the first time a move to make Trabzon Otosan's service network available to the public.
Aside from its repair shops and petrol stations, Trabzon Otosan constructed a factory adjacent to its central service department which was to oversee the production of a new all-terrain utility vehicle for the armed forces. The factory staff was recruited from self-taught machinists, engineering students from the nearby Karadeniz Technical University, military engineers and workshops personnel, and foreign technicians, allegedly from an ex-Soviet country with former automotive production experience. This vehicle was known as the Kalesi, and assembled from surplus prewar M151 and M38A1 jeeps, albeit with a new two-stroke, two-cylinder engine also made up of recycled parts. After the military order was fulfilled, Trabzon Otosan announced that production would continue for the civilian market and potential export sales as well.
In August 2024, Trabzon Otosan began assembling cable drum and cargo trailers in conjunction with its numerous subcontractors. The company executives also claimed they were working on prototypes of a new tractor and a four-door sedan, which would be suitable for police cars, taxis, and private motorists. Concept drawings of the latter revealed a vehicle that closely resembled the prewar Turkish Tofaş Murat 131, one of the most common automobiles in Trabzon prior to Doomsday. As Trabzon Otosan lacked the technical capabilities or resources to design and manufacture a new automobile from scratch, there was widespread speculation that the company would simply refurbish existing Murat 131s or recycle their parts and bodies into a "new" production line, as was done with the Kalesi.
Problems and prospects[]
To refurbish and rebuild automotive parts, Trabzon Otosan relies on a number of subcontractors, usually artisan machine shops which proliferated in Trabzon in the decades following Doomsday. Likewise, to assemble the Kalesi, the company must rely on numerous subcontractors to perform work that would otherwise overwhelm its own resources, namely iron foundries to cast new bodies and artisan machinists and blacksmiths to rebuild the old jeep transmissions and running gear. Consequently, thousands of workers are required to produce one Kalesi.
Although it possesses limited production capabilities of its own, Trabzon Otosan's lack of investment credits, supplier diversity, and access to modern steel plants have severely impaired its ability to manufacture parts - much less complete vehicles - in house. Without foreign assistance, production numbers for the Kalesi and resurrected Murat 131 clone are likely to remain extremely low, and will cease once the company runs out of salvageable prewar vehicles to cannibalize.
Trabzon Otosan's attempts to appeal to the private consumer market in Trabzon remain unsuccessful. Individual motorized traffic throughout the country has declined dramatically since Doomsday, due to the abysmal condition of Trabzonian roads and a lack of public access to service stations and auto parts suppliers. The relatively few cars in civilian hands have been kept running thanks to the ingeniousness of their owners, who often double as their own mechanics, and a brisk but informal trade in second-hand parts. A scarce resource at the best of times, motor vehicles in Trabzon belong overwhelmingly to the state. The military and law enforcement possess the largest number, followed by public transport, post and telegraph, and municipal administrations. Consequently, Trabzon Otosan remains dependent on its service contracts with these government bodies for its continued survival.
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