Turkey plans to launch its own electric car in 2022. The Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan presented the domestic car brand with great fanfare on Friday. The name of the electric vehicle is to be announced in 2020.
“Today we are experiencing a historic day for our country, experiencing how a dream of 60 years will come true,” said Erdogan during the presentation of the prototypes in Gebze near Istanbul and immediately ordered a first car. A Turkish car brand is a long-held wish of the president. In the 1960s, a first attempt by Turkey with its own brand – the “Devrim” – failed.
The manufacturer, Togg, is a joint venture of five companies and an advocacy group for industrial companies and stock exchanges. Togg’s CEO is former Bosch CEO Gurcan Karakas. The manager responsible for operations is Sergio Rocha, who was former General Motors Korea general manager.
The automobile manufacturer Togg wants to launch the new electric car on the market by 2022. Picture: Erdem Sahin, EPA / Keystone
A presidential decree published in the State Gazette on Friday said that the car was to be manufactured in the northwestern Turkish city of Bursa. Up to 175,000 cars are to be built there every year. The investment volume is therefore 22 billion lira (around CHF 3.6 billion). The government is funding the project. According to the Official Journal, it also guarantees the purchase of 30,000 vehicles by 2035.
The automotive industry in Turkey, where companies such as Ford and Fiat also produce, has recently been worse. In 2018, the domestic market slumped, among other things, due to a currency crisis. Volkswagen postponed a decision to build an automobile plant in Turkey in October, as international criticism of the Turkish military operation in Syria was voiced. (Sho / SDA)
Created: 12/27/2019, 6:03 PM
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