Turkey’s first electric car to enter European markets via Germany

The first models of Turkey’s domestic and fully electric vehicle, produced by Turkey's Automobile Enterprise Group (TOGG), will come off the mass production lines at the end of 2022 and are to be put on the country's market, the industrial entity's CEO, Gürcan Karakaş, said Tuesday.

Speaking to the German press, he said that after being sold in the domestic market, the vehicles will initially enter the German market in around one and a half years and then be available to European markets in general.

Karakaş commented on the developments during his interview for Automobilwoche, Germany's respected automotive publication, as the TOGG has started to find itself wide coverage in the European press as well.

The German publication emphasized that TOGG's ambitious plans are preparing for a great competition.

Underlining that TOGG, which was established with the partnership of the most influential companies in the sector in Turkey with a combined investment of 3 billion euros ($3.6 billion), the article said, "This is also a transformation project of Turkey. Turkey is one of the most important supplier countries of Europe in the automotive field and has a significant cost advantage.”

TOGG has partnered with Chinese battery company Farasis for its electric batteries. The Chinese company has established a factory in Germany and will supply the battery cells from the production conducted there.

“We have plans for joint production with the company in Turkey,” Karakaş also said.

Meanwhile, Turkish daily Akşam also reiterated that TOGG is planning to take its first step into European markets from Germany, where there is a large Turkish population.

TOGG started to establish an innovation center in Stuttgart last May and TOGG Europe GmbH will serve as an important base, the report underlined.

Further commenting on the export plans and new targets of the company Karakaş said they currently employ around 450 people but the company is growing very fast in terms of human resources.

“We plan to reach a total of 800 employees by the end of the year,” he said.

Until 2030, a total of 1 million units of five different all-electric models, whose intellectual and industrial property rights belong entirely to TOGG, will be produced at TOGG’s Gemlik factory in Turkey's northwestern Bursa province.

In July 2020, a groundbreaking ceremony for the construction of this particular factory, the country’s first domestic car plant, was held in Bursa, dubbed the country’s automotive capital.

The event came after the country unveiled prototypes of the first fully domestically produced car in December last year. The plant will host an indigenous car engineering, design and production center.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said during the ceremony that it was a “historic step” to realize a 60-year-old dream to produce the country’s first domestic car.

The article published in the German press also stated that Turkey has stepped up its efforts to provide comprehensive charging infrastructure in the country.

More than 4,000 charging stations are planned to be put into operation. The investments made aim to establish a standard charging station for every 10 kilometers and fast-charging stations at every 25 km on main roads.

TOGG will be the first nonclassical innate electric SUV manufacturer in Europe as of 2022 when it will start production.

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 the TOGG. It will produce five different models – a sport utility vehicle (SUV), sedan, c-hatchback, b-SUV and b-MPV – until 2030 and own all intellectual and industrial property rights.