Istanbul -
"A 60-year dream comes true", the most frequent phrase by Turkish officials yesterday, Saturday, at the opening ceremony of the Turkish national car factory "TOGG", the first domestic electric car to begin serial production on the day of the Republic Day, in a message explaining The size of the hopes that the Turks place on the success of the project in placing the country in the ranks of developed countries.
And the “Tog” car is not the first national car, as the Turkish industry has previously witnessed the birth of two cars that prevented many obstacles from continuing their journey, but “Tog” comes with the full support of the Turkish government and the initiative of the Turkish president since 2011, and the alliance of private sector giants, and facilitated by Turkish Chambers of Commerce, with the hope that this car will turn into a leading brand in the world.
Hours before his participation in the opening ceremony of the factory, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had written in a note for visitors to the tomb of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, on the occasion of Republic Day: "We are pleased to crown this historic day with the opening of the TOG factory, the first domestic electric car in our country, and we will continue We struggle resolutely to make the present century the century of Turkey, and to realize the dreams of our nation without indifference to obstacles."
A huge opening ceremony was chaired by Erdogan and attended by senior statesmen, politicians and directors of companies participating in the Turkish National Car Project, on the campus of the new factory, which is based on two million square meters, with a covered area of 230 thousand square meters, and is located in the Gemlik district of Bursa, where factories are based Other major global car companies have their headquarters.
Walking on the roads
After he and First Lady Erdoğan, Emine Erdoğan, tested the performance of the first car produced by the factory in series, the Turkish president said in his speech during the opening: "The car will decorate the roads of many countries of the world in the coming period as a prestigious Turkish brand," noting that they are witnessing "the realization of a dream." It lasted 60 years with the first Toug car out of serial production."
Erdogan explained that although Turkey is the first in Europe in the manufacture and export of cars, the lack of a local car among the cars manufactured on its territory "has always been a headache" for Turks.
He revealed that the "Tog" factory will produce 175,000 cars annually when it reaches work with full capacity, while he indicated that citizens' requests to purchase the local car will start next February, and he explained that it will run on the country's roads at the end of the first quarter of 2023, expressing his belief that The price of the car will be announced in February.
On the other hand, the Turkish President stated that the factory will provide 4,300 direct jobs, and 20,000 indirectly, and stressed that his government intends to lay the foundation stone for building a battery factory with an area of 609,000 square meters, in addition to the local car factory, indicating that it was agreed with one of the The world's largest company to produce lithium-ion batteries in Turkey, for use in the "Tog" car.
"From now on, we will not buy a car manufacturing license, but we will sell it, and we will not assemble cars from others, but others will assemble our cars," said Rifat Hisarciklioglu, head of the Federation of Turkish Chambers of Commerce and Exchange, one of the parties to the project.
President of the Federation of Turkish Chambers of Commerce and Exchanges: From now on, we will not buy the license to manufacture cars, but we will sell them, and we will not assemble cars from others, but others will assemble our cars.
As for the Minister of Industry, Science and Technology, Mustafa Varank, he pointed out that the "Tog" car will be "more than a car", as it will have advanced technologies and systems, and that its factory will be "more than just a car factory", indicating that it will operate with clean, fully renewable energy.
The opening ceremony was chaired by Erdogan and was attended by senior statesmen, politicians and managers of joint stock companies (French)
Turkish car features
Although the idea of the car project started as a traditional car, it was soon replaced by a fully electric car.
According to data issued by the car manufacturer group, it will be able to travel up to 500 kilometers on a single charge, and its battery will be charged to 80% in less than 30 minutes, which will allow it to compete in the world of electric cars, and for drivers to travel long distances thanks to the fast charging feature.
And last March, “TOG” passed all the tests successfully, the last of which was the winter tests in harsh conditions of minus 40 degrees, at the nearest point to the Antarctic (the approved test center in Ushuaia, Argentina), according to the official Anadolu Agency. .
On Friday, the group of Turkish companies that manufactured the "Tog" car announced 6 colors for its cars, which begin production today, under the name "Colors of Turkey", a metaphor for the colors of specific regions and symbols in the country.
Project story
In November 2017, an alliance of 5 giant Turkish industrial companies was formed: Anadolu Group, BMC, Koc Holding, Turkcell Group, and Zorlu. (Zorlu) Holdings.
These companies signed a cooperation protocol with the Ministry of Science, Industry and Technology on the one hand, and the Federation of Turkish Chambers and Exchanges on the other hand;
To officially launch the project under the name "Turkish Car Initiative", a phrase that takes the car's name from its initials in Turkish (TOGG).
And in December 2019, the group revealed the birth of the first national car with pure domestic capabilities, by displaying its prototypes during a big party, and the models included the C-SUV and sedan classes.
In July 2020, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan laid the foundation stone for the factory, which entered the stage of readiness and opened yesterday.
Since the start of the project, the Turkish government has provided him with great support, providing him with government insurance and exemption from consumption tax and value-added tax for a period of 10 years.
According to the group, the total investment value for the production of the car at 2017 prices amounted to about 22 billion Turkish liras (3.704 billion dollars).
And one of the media coordinators in the group had previously told Al Jazeera Net that the car operates with an autonomous system, and is equipped with a permanent Internet connection system, stressing that it was designed to meet the needs, desires and requirements of Turkish society, through a large statistical study that preceded the implementation of the project.
The group of Turkish car manufacturers announced in July of this year that the factory would start producing the "SUV" model during the first quarter of 2023, then the "hatchback" and "sedan" models would enter the production line, to conclude its five models during the following years with my cars. B-SUV and C-MBV.
The Turkish car will travel on the country’s roads at the end of the first quarter of 2023 (Anatolia)
Turkish car dream
Turks’ dreams of producing their local car began to come true in 1961, when Turkish President Cemal Kurcel ordered the Ministry of Transport to manufacture a national car with local capabilities, to be ready by Republic Day on October 29, 1961.
Despite the success in producing 4 copies of the domestic car, which was called "Devrim", it failed to continue after 129 days.
The year 1966 witnessed the second attempt, when the "Otosan" factory began producing the "Anatolian" car, which took a step ahead of its predecessor to be the first local Turkish car on the roads, but despite the company's production of 93,188 cars, the project stopped in 1984.
The Turkish attempts continued in vain until the meeting of the General Assembly of the Federation of Exchanges and Chambers of Commerce in the capital Ankara in 2017, during which President Erdogan asked the president of the association, Rifat Hisarcıklıoğlu, to lead the production of the first 100% homemade Turkish car.