The Temsa Safir is an intercity coach that the Turkish manufacturer has produced since 1999. It began life under the licence agreement with Mitsubishi that had shaped Temsa’s buses since the 1980s, and from 2009 it became the company’s first coach built entirely in Turkey apart from its engine.
Temsa Safir at a glance
| Maker | Temsa, Adana, Turkey |
|---|---|
| Production | since 1999 |
| Type | intercity coach |
| Licence | Mitsubishi agreement of 1999, covering engines, bodies, buses and midibuses |
| Licence ended | December 2008 |
| Fully Turkish version | from February 2009 |
| Parts made in-house | all except the engine |
| Later name in the range | Safir Plus |
| Related models | Safari, Diamond, Opalin and Tourmalin |
| Plant | Adana, 500,000 m² |
The Safir is covered by a short page in the Turkish Wikipedia; company background comes from the English article on TEMSA.
History of the Temsa Safir
Built under Mitsubishi licence
The Safir went into production in 1999, the year Temsa signed an agreement with Mitsubishi of Japan covering the licensed manufacture of engines, bodies, buses and midibuses. The coach was built under that agreement until December 2008.
2009: a wholly Turkish coach
In February 2009 the Mitsubishi agreement came to an end for all three vehicle types covered by it. Temsa then began manufacturing every component of the Safir in-house except the engine, and the vehicle became the 100 per cent Turkish Temsa Safir. With this version the company no longer had any Mitsubishi-licensed vehicle of its own; the Fuso Canter light truck and the passenger cars that Mitsubishi marketed in Turkey through Temsa were outside that arrangement.
In the Temsa range
The Safir has remained part of the intercity range, listed in the domestic line-up as the Safir Plus. It appeared alongside the Safari, Diamond, Opalin and Tourmalin, four models that were also included in a special edition of the Bus Driver game released by SCS Software in 2007. The Safir took over part of the work of the Safari when that coach left production in 2015.
Design and features
- Licence-era design: developed under the 1999 Mitsubishi agreement and built to it until 2008.
- Turkish content: from 2009 every component except the engine was made by Temsa itself.
- Long production run: in the range since 1999.
- Intercity role: a long-distance coach in the domestic and export line-ups.
Temsa Safir versions
- Safir (1999–2008): the licensed version built under the Mitsubishi agreement.
- Safir (from 2009): the fully Turkish version with all components but the engine made in-house.
- Safir Plus: the name used for the model in the domestic range.
The Safir replaced part of the work of the Safari and shared the range with the Diamond and the Opalin. More coaches are in the Temsa collection.
Sources
- Temsa Safir, Turkish Wikipedia: licence dates, local content, model history
- TEMSA, English Wikipedia: company history, model line, Bus Driver edition
