Erdogan gives gas to Turkey with first electric car

Turkey wants to establish itself on the market for battery-powered cars with its own car brand. From 2022, the TOGG electric cars are to be produced. Around 13 billion euros are to be invested in the project in the future 13 years.

175,000 cars a year

The implementation is considered a long-term goal of the incumbent President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who described the day of the presentation of the first prototype in Istanbul as “historic”. Already in the 1960s, Turkey made an attempt to establish its own car brand on the market. Alone, it stayed with the attempt.

Five industrial companies are part of the TOGG consortium founded in 2018 (Turkey’s Automobile Initiative Group) involved: Anadolu Group, BMC, Kok Group, the mobile operator Turkcell and the Zorlu Holding. TOGG’s CEO is Gürcan Karakas, formerly a managing director at Bosch. Manager Sergio Rocha is responsible for operational business.

Every year, up to 175,000 vehicles are to be produced in a factory in the province of Bursa. The location is said to provide 4,000 people with jobs. The Turkish government also wants to support the project with tax breaks. Turkey guarantees the purchase of 30,000 units by 2035.

Relatively little time passed from the announcement to the implementation of the project. Because this took place in November 2017. The project should serve as evidence of the growing economic power of the country.

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