Turkish new electric car brand TOGG opened a factory at the end of last year. A mid-size SUV is expected to be a hit in the Turkish market this year. The brand wants to launch a compact SUV in the Netherlands around 2025, says CEO Gürcan Karakas in a conversation with NU.nl. But first TOGG wants to achieve success in Turkey. “If we don’t focus on the domestic market, we don’t do business abroad”.
Electric driving is still in its infancy in Turkey. Electric cars are expensive and there are few (fast) chargers left in the country which is nineteen times the size of the Netherlands. According to Karakas, being successful in Turkey first means setting up an organization, seeking collaboration with service partners and selling 20,000 copies, the expected production volume for 2023.
There is no shortage of interest, says Karakas. There would be more people interested in an SUV than the cars that will roll off the line this year. TOGG will therefore experience a new way of ordering. Interested parties can play for a higher place on the waiting list via a game.
“Electricity competition is already fierce in Norway”
Meanwhile, TOGG is likely looking beyond national borders. In any case, the brand wants to become active in Holland, Sweden and Norway. Though Karakas sees competition in Norway as fierce because electric driving is the norm there. To better understand customers in new markets, TOGG has opened a market research office in Stuttgart. At the beginning of 2025, the Turkish brand wants to take its first steps in the Netherlands and the Scandinavian countries.
To this end, the production planning of TOGG has also been revised. A compact electric SUV the size of the Opel Mokka or Peugeot e-2008 was expected, but not until 2026. “We’ve been pursuing that model for our expansion into the European market,” says Karakas.
TOGG kicks off in Turkey with an SUV in the so-called C-segment. Depending on the version, that car will have 200 or 400 hp, a range of 300 or 500 kilometers and two or four-wheel drive. A sedan follows, “because Turkey is still a real country of sedans.” According to Karakas, the so-called four-door coupe version of that model will be a bit higher on the legs for Europe for a “crossover look.”
“Other brands can turn to us for batteries”
Over the past two years, the automotive industry has mainly focused on longer delivery times. Electric car manufacturers have an additional challenge because they need to have enough battery cells for the battery packs. According to Karakas, TOGG therefore focused on doing as much as possible in-house from day one.
For the cells and battery packs, the Turks are collaborating with the Chinese Farasis Energy. That company, in turn, is a partner of Mercedes-Benz. Karakas: “In our plan for this decade, we aim for four times more production capacity than we need ourselves. This means that other car manufacturers can also turn to us for batteries in the long term.”
“Smart device, not a car”
Karakas invariably speaks of a smart device instead of a car. According to him, this is not without reason. “We developed our product with consumer electronics glasses. For example, we will use special Qualcomm chips, have an operating system that is open to app developers, and be able to keep the car up-to-date with over-the-air updates ( OTA). An intelligent algorithm will then be able to recognize the driver’s preferences, so that the vehicle can be configured and reacted according to one’s tastes.”
According to Karakas, a TOGG should therefore be more than a vehicle in which you get from A to B. “The things you do in the office or at home, you should also be able to do in the car. Those worlds will merge into the vehicle.”
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