Togg to have manufacturing capacity of 100,000 cars
ISTANBUL
Türkiye’s global technology brand, Togg plans on manufacturing 20,000 vehicles in 2023 at its plant, Gürcan Karakaş, its CEO has said.
The inauguration of the factory where the country’s indigenous electric car will be produced, took place on Oct. 29 in the Gemlik district of the industrial province of Bursa and the first car rolled off from the assembly line with a ceremony attended by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
Karakaş noted that they initially established a factory with a capacity of 100,000.
“This is a greenfield investment. Technically it is not possible for the plant to reach 100,000 capacity in a short period of time. In fact, you cannot have the 100,000 capacity with a single model. Therefore, our plan for the next year is produce around 20,000 vehicles,” Karakaş told reporters.
They have started studies to identify export markets, particularly countries in Europe, he added. “But it is too early to say that, we’ll make the announcement soon. For exports, we have set up a time frame of 15 to 18 months,” Karakaş said.
The company executive also said that Togg wants to provide car services directly.
“We will offer those services in seven regions at around 20 locations and mobile service vehicles will also be in use for those services.”
Meanwhile, business associations are planning to place large orders for Türkiye’s first domestically produced vehicle.
Pre-orders for Togg’s C-SUV model will start to be collected in February and some business associations have said they are planning to buy hundreds of them. “We have communicated our demand to initially buy 5,000 [Togg] cars. If we are reserved more quota, this number may go up to 10,000. We are proud of this project,” said Orhan Aydın, president of the Anatolian Lions Businessmen Association (ASKON).
The Istanbul Chamber of Commerce (İTO) also plans to buy Togg cars, but they are yet undecided about how many, said Şekib Avdagiç, its president.
“We want Togg vehicles for the İTO and all İTO-affiliated entities, such as Techno Park Istanbul, Istanbul Commerce University and Istanbul World Trade Center,” he noted.
Togg will give a strong boost to the local economy of Bursa, said İbrahim Burkay, president of the Bursa Chamber of Commerce and Industry. “It will help us reach $40 billion in export revenues. Some 30 companies in a local organized industry zone will start production for Togg,” Burkay said.
Togg vehicles will be introduced to the local market in March next year. The price of the vehicle is expected to be announced in February and Togg will be sold on the internet but 19 “experience centers” will open for potential buyers.
Speaking at the inauguration ceremony Erdoğan also announced that an agreement was reached 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.
