TOGG presents Turkey’s first domestically made electric vehicle

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is about to take the prototype of a compact sports utility vehicle for a spin for the media in Gebze near Istanbul. Turkey’s Automobile Joint Venture Group Inc., founded under the auspices of the Ministry of Industry and Technology, is developing the first domestically produced car within a planned series of five models.

Officials are promising that it would also have autonomous features, which means it would be able to go without a driver. TOGG published several illustrations and a video to hint at design solutions, signed by Italy’s Pininfarina SpA. One of the characteristics are symbols of tulips, seen at the front of the silhouette of the C-SUV. A sedan, also from the C segment, should be presented next.

The beginning of mass production of the four by four is scheduled for 2022, with the ambition that exports would start two years after that. TOGG was established by Anadolu Group, BMC, Kök Group, Turkcell, Zorlu Holding and the Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey (TOBB), which holds a 5% stake.

Investments were estimated at TRL 22 billion or USD 3.7 billion over 13 years including tax incentives and stimulus from the state

The joint venture is already receiving orders. Taxi drivers in Istanbul reportedly sought 17,000 units already and the government took on the obligation to buy 30,000 by 2035. The maximum goal is 175,000 cars per year from the factory. Investments were estimated at TRL 22 billion or USD 3.7 billion over 13 years including tax incentives and stimulus from the state.

The unveiling in Marmara Research Centre (MAM) in Kocaeli, a province east of the country’s largest city, is being held two years after the beginning of the partnership. The consortium revealed it is directing its efforts toward obtaining a five-star safety certificate from European New Car Assessment Programme – Euro NCAP.

The factory will be in Bursa in Turkey’s northwest, according to the presidential proclamation published in the Official Gazette. The number of employees will top 4,300, representatives of the state and the biggest automotive manufacturers there claimed.

Inter alia, TOGG gave away the information in a teaser that the batteries are in the floor. It partially showed shock absorbers and the suspension system as well as the rear bumper and the lights.

Think tank Shura estimated that the number of electric vehicles in the country would surpass 2.5 million in 2030. The latest data show there are currently only 1,500, with a little above one thousand charging stations. Zorlu Holding Energy chairman Sinan Ak recently asserted citizens wold buy 200,000 electric cars in the next three years, and that there would be 2.2 million by the end of the decade.