Togg, first Turkish vehicle sharing pride of 85 million Turks: Erdoğan

GEMLİK

Togg, Türkiye’s first indigenous vehicle, represents the shared pride of 85 million Turks and has made a 60-years-old dream come true, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has said, underlining that it is also the first concrete project under the Century of Türkiye Vision.

The inauguration of Togg took place in Gemlik, where the production facility is located, with the participation of Erdoğan, senior government officials, as well as other authorities and guests on Oct. 29, the day Türkiye celebrated the 99th anniversary of its foundation.

“Togg is the name of the project and allows us to enjoy this shared dream for our country’s powerful future. With this first vehicle we rolled off the series production line, we are witnessing a 60-year-old dream come true. Therefore, we say Togg is the shared pride of Türkiye and 85 million people,” Erdoğan said.

Recalling that he announced the Century of Türkiye Vision on Oct. 28, which covers the objectives of the country in its second century, Erdoğan stated, “This facility we inaugurate here and this vehicle are the first photograph of the Century of Türkiye. We call this product an automobile, but its producers describe it as a ‘smart device.’”

The president underlined that his government worked day and night in the past 20 years in order to improve the country in science, technology, research and development. “We have developed our industry, agriculture and exports. We have built an innovative ecosystem in 20 years in Türkiye. We have increased the number of technoparks from two to 96, organized industrial zones from 192 to 344, employment in these zones from 415,000 to 2.5 million,” he informed.

“No matter where you go in the world, you will see Turkish brands. Togg will grace the roads across the world as a prestigious Turkish brand in the period ahead,” Erdoğan said.

175,000 cars will be produced annually

Underlining that all the intellectual and industrial property rights of the Togg project belong to Türkiye, Erdoğan stressed, “When the Togg Gemlik Facility reaches its full capacity, 175,000 vehicles will be produced here annually. Around 4,300 people will be employed directly and 20,000 people indirectly. One million vehicles will be produced here until 2030, which will contribute over $50 billion to our national income and $7 billion to reducing our surplus deficit.”

Along with the car factory, they will also produce batteries for electric vehicles and establish charging stations across the country, the president informed.

“We have agreed with a leading company in the world to produce Togg’s lithium-ion batteries in our country. We will soon break ground for the battery factory, which will be built in the 609,000-square-meter plot right next to the Togg facility,” he said.

“When we embarked upon this path, we said, ‘Türkiye would be the production hub of electric vehicles.’ Togg is the engine on this path,” he stated, noting that 54 companies were given licenses to operate vehicle-charging stations and that Togg will open 1,000 fast charging stations at over 600 points in all the country’s 81 provinces under its own brand, Trugo.

Togg will hit roads in 2023

Following the inauguration of the factory, the test and certification processes of the cars will start immediately, he said, adding, “Togg will also have the necessary technical and compliance certificates, required in European markets, since it will cruise the roads there as well. Therefore, we will see Togg on the road by the end of 2023’s first quarter.”

Announcing that Turkish citizens would be able to pre-order Togg models near the end of February, Erdoğan noted that the price would be announced by then.