Türkiye's first indigenous electric vehicle, Togg, emerged as an EV market leader in the first quarter of the year with over 4,000 units sold, according to industry data compiled by Anadolu Agency (AA) on Thursday.
Togg sold 4,145 vehicles in the first three months of the year, as shown by the data compiled by AA from the Automotive Distributors and Mobility Association (ODMD).
Earlier this week, data revealed that car sales in Türkiye remained strong despite the surge in borrowing costs and inflation as overall monthly and quarterly sales rose.
The ODMD said sales climbed 25.2% to 295,519 units in the January-March period compared to the first quarter of last year.
During this period, car sales increased by 33.05% to 233,389 units, while light commercial vehicle sales rose by 2.6% to 62,130 units.
Meanwhile, according to the data, the number of "fully electric" car sales in January-March increased by 275.9% to 14,158.
The share of fully electric cars in total sales rose from 2.1% to 6.1%, while the share of hybrid cars increased from 11% to 14.2%.
When considering fully electric, extended-range electric and hybrid vehicles, electric motor-equipped vehicles accounted for 21.3% of the total market.
According to ODMD data, Togg, which continues to increase its popularity among electric car brands, maintained its market leadership in the first quarter of the year.
Togg, which was officially rolled out late in 2022, is currently producing a fully electric C-segment SUV at its plant in northwestern Bursa province. The brand launched the production of its T10X in October 2022 before starting deliveries last April.
Earlier this year, Türkiye's first domestically produced electric car brand also unveiled its sedan model T10F at CES 2024, a major consumer electronics and IT fair held in Las Vegas.
In addition to the SUV and sedan, Togg is expected to manufacture three other models – a C-hatchback, a B-SUV, and a B–MPV – by 2030.
Selling 4,145 units in January-March, it surpassed its closest competitor by 2,533 units.
During this period, Togg's market share in the electric car market stood at 29.7%; in other words, approximately one out of every three electric cars sold across the country was a Togg T10X model.
Following Togg, German brands were seen in the top three and were followed by South Korean brands.
BMW ranked second with 1,612 sales, while Mercedes Benz ranked third with 1,064 units sold.
Ssangyong ranked fourth with 830 sales and Hyundai ranked fifth with 770 sales in the first three months, respectively.
Among Chinese brands, MG stood out with 768 sales, followed by BYD with 550 sales and Skywell with 96 sales.
The increasing trend of electric cars in the Turkish car market remains relatively high, as several EV makers, including Chinese giant BYD and Tesla, of tech billionaire Elon Musk, entered the market last year.
Tesla, the U.S.-based car manufacturer, sold 375 cars in three months but did not make it to the top 10, according to the ODMD data.
Looking at the electric car market on a model basis, Togg T10X was the best-selling model. The BMW 5 Series ranked second, Ssangyong Torres third, MG4 fourth and Atto 3 fifth.
