Turkey’s first homegrown automobile brand, Togg, has made its initial foray into the European market by opening its first representative office abroad in Germany. Togg is due to launch mass production later this year.
Togg CEO Mehmet Gürcan Karakaş in August last year said the company would start sales with Germany, followed by other markets in Europe.
Germany aims to have at least 15 million electric cars on the roads by 2030 in its shift towards climate neutrality, according to a coalition agreement of the country’s new government.
Turkey’s Automobile Joint Venture Group, known as Togg, is the consortium developing the country’s indigenous car.
Due to launch its first mass-produced vehicle, an all-electric SUV, by the end of 2022, Togg opened its first foreign office in Stuttgart, according to a report by public broadcaster TRT Haber.
The SUV in the C-segment will be launched in the first quarter of 2023 and will be the first electric sport utility vehicle produced in continental Europe by a nontraditional manufacturer, Karakaş said earlier this month.
"I believe that if attention is paid to its quality, both Germans and the Turks will be buying it," said Durmuş Yılmaz, an automotive parts supplier in Germany.
"We see that the Germans pay close attention to everything. If we do the same, it depends on the quality, discipline; when they buy it, they will realize that it is a good car," Yılmaz told TRT Haber.
The brand aims to produce 1 million vehicles across five different segments by 2030.
Togg was named among one of the top 20 brands that participated at the 2022 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) by the U.S.-based Exhibitor magazine.
Togg showed off the "Transition Concept Smart Device," an all-electric fastback concept car during one of the world’s largest technology and gadget fairs, held in Las Vegas earlier this month.
It was not immediately clear if the fastback is intended to replace the previously seen compact sedan or was created just for CES.
Togg was launched on June 25, 2018. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, in December 2019, unveiled prototypes for the SUV and a sedan, both fully electric and C-segment models.
Togg said it would produce five different models – an SUV, sedan, C-hatchback, B-SUV and B-MPV – through 2030. Mass production of the SUV will begin by the end of this year, with the sedan to follow.
Construction of Togg’s engineering, design and production facilities began in mid-2020. Built on an area of 1.2 million square meters (12.9 million square feet) in the Gemlik district of northwestern Bursa province, the facility is scheduled to be complete in the coming months.
Togg has opted for advanced lithium-ion battery technology company Farasis as its business partner for the battery. The homegrown car can reach 80% charge in under 30 minutes with fast charging. It will have a range of between 300 kilometers to 500 kilometers (186 miles to 310 miles).