After a long-awaited announcement, Türkiye on Tuesday unveiled a price tag for its first domestically made car brand, with pre-orders due to start on Thursday, amid expectations it would add further pace to electric vehicle (EV) sales.
The first model, a C-segment SUV named Togg T10X, will have a price ranging from TL 953,000 (around $50,230) to TL 1.22 million, the company said in a statement.
The vehicle, that went into production within five years from its design phase, is being manufactured by a consortium of five Turkish companies called the Automobile Initiative Group of Türkiye, or Togg, in cooperation with the Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Türkiye (TOBB).
Having begun mass production in late October, Togg on Tuesday said pre-orders would be accepted between March 16-27.
Togg said the fully electric T10X would be initially sold with one engine and two battery options. The deliveries are planned to start in late October this year.
The model will feature a range of 314 or 523 kilometers (195 and 325 miles) depending on the battery size, the company said.
The twin-engine type will also be offered for sale in the coming period, it noted.
"From day one, we aimed to create a mobility technology brand with intellectual property rights fully owned by Togg, and for Türkiye that can compete on a global scale," said Togg CEO Gürcan Karakaş.
"We plan to deliver orders mainly to individual customers throughout 2023," Karakaş noted.
Calling itself a technology brand that blends digital and physical experiences, Togg has joined hands with multiple startups to create a new mobility ecosystem.
Besides the SUV, Togg will manufacture another four models – a sedan, C-hatchback, B-SUV and B-MPV – through 2030. Mass production of the SUV will be followed by the Sedan.
Karakaş in October said they aim to produce up to 20,000 cars this year.
Although it marks a low level compared to global standards, Togg achieving this output level will see it more than doubling Türkiye’s electric car fleet within a year.
The current production capacity stands at around 100,000 vehicles per year, a figure that is expected to reach 175,000 once Togg’s factory reaches full capacity.
The brand aims to produce 1 million vehicles across the five segments by 2030.
EV sales in Türkiye jumped 172% year-over-year in 2022 to 7,300 units. However, their share remained under 1% within the total vehicle market, which stood at around 783,000 units last year.
The total number of electric cars increased almost two-fold last year but stayed at around 15,000 units. The proportion of EVs within the total car fleet consisting of 14.3 million units remains very low at one per thousand despite rapid growth.
In what has been seen as a boost to the national car project, Türkiye last week announced it would impose an additional 40% customs duty on electric vehicles made in China.
The move came just days after Chinese EV giant BYD Co. signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Turkish distributor ALJ Türkiye to enter the Turkish market with its passenger and light commercial vehicles.