Mr.  Şefik Çerçioğlu was born in Sultanhisar town (Aydin Province) in 1936 and become one of the most important pioneers among the automotive industry of Turkey.

From his early ages, he has always been keen on crafting. During his childhood, as an apprentice at his uncle’s shop, he started aligning curved nails and then learned the basics of welding. While working for his uncle, he further built up professional skills by taking theoretic craftsmen evening courses in Aydin.

Mr. Çerçioğlu had a great passion to explore the world which led him through various destinations throughout his career. He first left for abroad when he joined Turkish troops to serve as a volunteer for the United Nations Command during the Korean war in 1955. Despite harsh war conditions, he has gone through many different experiences far from his homeland, which led him to shape an open-minded approach to any difficulty. This was the foundation of success in his early years of business.

In 1961 Mr. Çerçioğlu moved to Germany to be a part of many of those who left their homeland to rebuild German post-war economy. After working for some years as a welding operator in a local heating system manufacturer, he was promoted to be the production chief.

After a successful 4-year stay in Germany, as a next step in his journey, Mr. Çerçioğlu decided to move to the USA, where he sensed many opportunities to go after and fetch.  There he has pursued a successful career in several industrial companies, being quickly promoted at a well-known national company from welding operator to the production manager. Both of his sons, Mr. Ercan Çerçioğlu (1966) and Mr. Erkan Çerçioğlu (1971) were born in the USA.

In 1972 Mr. Çerçioğlu decided to start his own business and returned to his homeland, Turkey. After several partnership trials, he decided to establish his own wheel factory. JANTSA started its operations in the fall of 1975, but it took 2 years for Mr. Çerçioğlu to put everything together until the grand opening in the summer of 1977. From that time on, he serves as a Chairman of JANTSA’s Executive Board.

Life and career of Mr. Çerçioğlu stand for passion for work, drive to explore with an entrepreneurial spirit. These virtues set the foundation for our success and have been passed on to each JANTSA employee today.