Turkey has just unveiled its first fully domestically produced car. President Erdogan has presented TOGG prototype, an electric vehicle, with a range of 300 miles. He hopes to challenge Tesla.
TOGG plans to produce up to 175,000 annually, with production to begin by 2022 with compact SUVs. Initially, five models of the car will be produced. The Turkish government will buy 30,000 of the vehicles by 2035. Erdogan said the charging infrastructure for electric cars would be ready across the county by 2022.
Is Turkey’s TOGG going to be a success and can really challenge Tesla?
Mehmet
In short, yes. The production numbers are not huge, so they can easily be sold domestically and in the export market. Two key things are important to make TOGG an international brand: price and features. There is not much information about the prices while the only feature we know so far is that TOGG an electric vehicle.
TOGG is a consortium of major domestic producers and run by formers heads of Bosch and General Motors. Turkey’s Automobile Initiative Group (TOGG) was established in 2018 by five industrial groups: Anadolu Group, BMC, Kok Group, mobile phone operator Turkcell and Zorlu Holding, the parent of TV maker Vestel.
John Fernandez
I do not think it would be able to compete Tesla, and I do not think TOGG would have any automation as Tesla is providing.