OWING A TRANSPARENT, ACCOUNTABLE, FAIR AND RESPONSIBLE CORPORATE GOVERNANCE TOFAŞ’S SUSTAINABILITY POLICY IS FORMED BY A CONTINUAL DEVELOPMENT-ORIENTED APPROACH.

The main pillars of Tofaş’s sustainability policy consist of the tenets of the United Nations Global Compact, to which one of its principal shareholders Koç Holding is a signatory as well as Koç Holding’s own corporate social responsibility approaches on the one hand and of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles’ sustainability and corporate social responsibility perspective on the other.

A SUSTAINABLE AND VALUE-CREATING MANAGEMENT MODEL

Tofaş’s corporate sustainability policy is dealt with within the framework of business models that take an integrated approach and are based on strategies that are mindful of a sustainable future.

Tofaş addresses sustainability and social responsibility issues in the context of their social, environmental, and economic dimensions. The company’s fundamental priority is to create a management model which can constantly be improved and create value.

The Tofaş Corporate Sustainability Policy is informed by the need to elucidate the company’s responsibilities towards all Tofaş stakeholders everywhere and not just those living in the vicinity of the Tofaş plant. Thus is the company equally mindful of both sustainability and corporate social responsibility issues when dealing with suppliers and dealers as well as with other stakeholders.

The environmental, social, and corporate governance aspects of the Tofaş Corporate Sustainability Policy are rooted in the tenets of:

• Effectively managing risks and constantly improving all processes;
• Abiding by “Zero-Accident” principles in matters pertaining to occupational health and safety;
• Improving the company’s performance and production efficiency;
• Encouraging active employee participation and fostering open communication;
• Making efficient use of energy while protecting environmental balances and natural resources;
• Increasing stakeholder knowledge and community awareness of climate change issues;
• Adhering to a sustainable environmental management policy that is grounded in national environmental laws and regulations, applicable environmental standards, and the best available technologies for dealing with such matters;
• Ensuring information security and business continuity in the conduct of all operations;
• Complying with the requirements of national and international laws and regulations;
• Managing stakeholder relations transparently and with common sense;
• Ensuring continuity in customer satisfaction;
• Improving suppliers’ own sustainability practices,
• Behaving transparently when dealing with the public at large on matters involving sustainable environment policies and practices;
• Making stakeholders aware of the company’s corporate social responsibility activities, strategies, objectives, and priorities;
• Making adherence to ethical values, combating corruption, and all other corporate governance principles part of the company’s corporate culture.

The company’s corporate governance structure, risk management, business ethics and anti-corruption rules, sustainability management, and stakeholder engagement approaches are all matters of concern when dealing with governance and sustainability issues.

Besides efforts aimed at the deployment and ongoing conduct of corporate governance activities within the company, all due attention is also given to ensuring that the company’s external stakeholders are likewise involved in achieving the same aims.

In keeping with this, ensuring the sustainability of all of the company’s corporate activities when treating all stakeholders equally, disclosing information responsibly, and abiding by corporate governance practices is one of the company’s fundamental objectives.

CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY ATTITUDES

Tofaş’s sustainability approaches are informed both by its sense of corporate social responsibility and by the company’s social impact. Within the framework of these approaches, the company engages in socially-beneficial activities both within the company itself and externally for society at large.

Thus,

• dealing with climate change and emissions,
• product portfolio and product strategies,
• markets and customer satisfaction,
• R&D management, WCM and management standards,
• energy efficiency,
• environmental management systems,
• occupational health and safety,
• workplace environment and talent management,
• supplier chain management,
• dealership and services networks

are all vital to sustainability management.  

Sustainability reports address the issues of climate change, environment, occupational health and safety, corporate governance, ethical behavior, supply-chain management, and social responsibility. These reports serve essentially as an opportunity for assessing the company’s sustainability policy and performance. Comprehensive, informative, and detailed information about Tofaş’s sustainability activities is included in annual and sustainability reports and also in the company’s regular and occasional printed publications.

In line with this, the company’s employees, shareholders, and other stakeholders are kept informed about these processes, which are also publicly disclosed. Essential information and associated links to it are likewise provided on Tofaş’s internet and corporate intranet websites, thereby making information about corporate policies, practices, and operations readily accessible to stakeholders.

Believing that corporate entities should conduct their social responsibility activities accountably and with an awareness of their duties and responsibilities towards their stakeholders, Tofaş regards it as a matter of its corporate sustainability policy to engage in social responsibility practices that are both sustainable and extensible.

As is also noted in Tofaş’s sustainability and its corporate governance compliance reports, the company’s social responsibility embraces all of the company’s stakeholders. Tofaş has all of its efforts in this direction independently rated and reported on. These reports provide specific details about the company’s corporate governance practices under the individual headings of “Shareholders”, “Public disclosure and transparency”, “Stakeholders”, and “Board of Directors” as appropriate. Such reports also include the company’s corporate governance rating, which is likewise announced annually through the Public Disclosure Platform at Borsa İstanbul (BIST) and on the company’s corporate website.

Tofaş’s shares are included in the BIST corporate governance index. Because of the importance which the company gives to corporate governance principles, it makes a regular, continuous, and dynamic effort to be in compliance with the criteria for inclusion in that index.

NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY STANDARDS

Tofaş regards it as being fundamentally essential that corporate social responsibility attitudes and practices comply with the requirements of laws and regulations. Tofaş keeps this necessity in mind whenever attempting to speed up corporate and/or social development.

In keeping with this, the company’s actions on issues such as human resources and investing in people projects, stakeholder culture and corporate vision, education support, culture & art development, and environmental awareness and protection are always informed by stipulated criteria and principles.

In all matters falling within the scope of social responsibility, Tofaş is mindful of all currently applicable national and international standards while also engaging in efforts to improve such standards.

TOFAŞ’S SUSTAINABILITY POLICY ADDRESSES THE COMPANY’S MANAGEMENT OF SOCIAL, ETHICAL, AND ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES. THIS POLICY EMBODIES AN INTEGRATED APPROACH WHICH IS ROOTED IN STAKEHOLDER PARTICIPATION AND WHICH TAKES STAKEHOLDERS’ EXPECTATIONS AND SATISFACTION INTO ACCOUNT.

SUSTAINABLE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY ATTITUDES AND PRACTICES

Tofaş’s sustainability policy addresses the company’s management of social, ethical, and environmental issues. This policy embodies an integrated approach which is rooted in stakeholder participation and which takes stakeholders’ expectations and satisfaction into account. The development and continuity of both sustainability and social responsibility attitudes and practices are achieved within the framework of the company’s corporate vision and the kinds of corporate activities that the company’s stakeholders prefer.

It is a matter of importance to Tofaş that the management, improvement, and oversight of the company’s corporate, social, and environmental impact processes and its management, social, and environmental performance be audited and that the results of these audits be shared with all of the company’s stakeholders. Having been developed in line with this approach, Tofaş’s corporate sustainability policy is overseen at the Board of Directors level, with related issues being assessed and reported on by committees that are responsible to the board itself. The results of these audits are included and published in each year’s sustainability report.

In addition, Tofaş’s sustainability and social responsibility activities are dealt with and implemented in line with company policies so as to ensure that they are carried out and can be improved and in ways that allow them to be monitored in accordance with national and international standards.