Foreign car manufacturers have been assembling their cars in Turkey since the mid-20th century, but the country never had automotive industry of its own. Things change now, with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan himself unveiling the TOGG, Turkey’s first homemade e-SUV.
The mid-size crossover vehicle should go into production sometime in 2022, followed later by a hatchback, a sedan, a C-class compact van, and a B-class crossover. All of these should emerge before 2030, the manufacturer states.
TOGG’s first SUV will be available in two variants. One of these will ship with a single engine, RWD and 200 hp (150 kW), while the other one will offer dual engines, AWD and 400 hp (300 kW). The former reportedly needs 7.6 seconds to sprint from zero to 100 km/h (62 mph), while the latter will accomplish the same in 4.8 seconds. The nominal driving range amounts to 500 kilometers (310 miles), quick charging takes under half an hour, and at Level 3, the autopilot tech used is quite impressive, too.
The total amount of investment (both spent and planned) is estimated at 22 billion Turkish liras (approx. 3.7B USD). The factory should be completed in 2021 and the first cars should hit the dealerships in 2022. Erdogan says he will buy the first production copy for himself.
Later on, Turkey plans to export their EVs worldwide, starting with Europe.