German Press: Türkiye is Making Its Own Tesla

German economic newspaper Handelsblatt conducted an interview with Gürcan Karakaş, CEO of Turkey's Automobile Enterprise Group (TOGG) and featured TOGG's work on its pages. For TOGG, “Turkey produces its own Tesla” Commenting on this, the newspaper stated that the cars to be produced by TOGG could become an attractive option for the German market if they have a competitive price.

Handelsblatt, the first foreign publication to which TOGG CEO Karakaş gave an interview, said: “Turkish Tesla: Former manager of Bosch How does he want to move Turkey into the electric car age? While using the statements, it is stated that the company will take its first fully electric SUV model off the line in 2022 and “Gürcan Karakaş manages the project and sees himself as different from other established producers.” expressions are used.

“Although TOGG is Turkey's Tesla, it does not have a Gigafactory yet.”

In the news where TOGG is described as a "Turkish Tesla", It does not have a "Gigafactory" yet While underlining, the following statements are used about the company's situation and ongoing work:

"There is only an office complex on the outskirts of Istanbul. 220 engineers work in this office in this project, in which Turkey's electric car production wants to reach the first league. 6 companies in the country joined forces for the project. It provided resources of over 3 billion euros. They appointed Gürcan Karakaş as the boss of the project. The manager, who has been working at Bosch for 27 years, is aware of the facts and says, 'Nobody expects an electric car from Turkey.' But Karakaş is determined to exceed expectations.”

“Automobiles were missing from Turkey's national product range”

Famous automobile expert Ferdinand Dudenhöffer, a lecturer at the University of Duisburg-Essen, said about TOGG: “3.3 billion euros is enough for a good start.” Adding his comment to his news, Handelsblatt also stated that the use of electric cars in Turkey has increased rapidly and sales increased by 104 percent in the January-September period of this year.

The newspaper also made statements about Turkey's independent industrial policy, which has been accelerating in recent years. “Turkish companies produce a large part of the equipment for the Turkish Armed Forces. Ventilators, LED panels and ships for COVID-19 intensive care patients are largely produced domestically. However, automobiles were missing from Turkey's national product range.” he said.

“TOGG's battery will be domestic”

Handelsblatt also shared information about the features of the domestic car and parts supply. "Turkey's Automobile will travel up to 500 kilometers on a single charge. The battery will be rechargeable up to 80 percent in 30 minutes and will be produced locally. Karakaş says that "negotiations continue" regarding battery technology. "If everything goes well, we can produce batteries for our competitors abroad," he says. he said.

In his news, Gürcan Karakaş “We are not just producing cars, we are making a smart device.” The newspaper also stated that from the very beginning, TOGG has been working with application developers to produce a car like a smartphone.