Turkey's 1st domestic car plant gets environmental green light

Turkey's Environment and Urbanization Ministry on Tuesday approved the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) for the construction of Turkey's first domestic car plant.

The Automobile Joint Venture Group (TOGG), a consortium of Turkey's five major companies that joined forces to manufacture the domestic car, announced on Twitter that the factory has successfully completed the EIA.

The assessment consists of information on the potential environmental and social impacts of building a smart plant in the Gemlik district of the northwestern province of Bursa.

It also includes recommendations for the mitigation of potential adverse impacts and enhancement of the beneficial ones.

In June 2018, five industrial giants – the Anadolu Group, BMC, Kök Group, Turkcell and Zorlu Holding – as well as an umbrella organization, the Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey (TOBB), joined hands to create TOGG.

The country's long journey to produce a fully homegrown car came to an end on Dec. 27 as it unveiled the first prototypes in a grand ceremony in the northwestern town of Gebze.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan unveiled prototypes of a sport utility vehicle (SUV) and a sedan, both fully electric and C-segment models. Mass production of the SUV will begin in 2022, while the production of the sedan model is expected to launch after the SUV goes into production.

Aiming to produce 1 million electric vehicles by 2032, TOGG will make five different models – an SUV, sedan, C-hatchback, B-SUV and B-MPV – through 2030, and own their intellectual and industrial property rights.

The factory is expected to cost around TL 22 billion ($3.7 billion). It will have the capacity to produce an average of 175,000 vehicles per year once work is completed. The plant will employ more than 4,300 staff, including 300 qualified personnel.