Automotive August 2021

Turkish
carmaker TOGG
pushes ahead
Three years since its establishment,
Turkey’s Automobile Joint Venture Group
(TOGG), a consortium developing Turkey’s
first homegrown car, continues its activities
at full speed.
Seen as the country’s “second automobile
revolution” and revived by President
Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, TOGG was officially
established on June 25, 2018.
A former executive at Bosch, Mehmet
Gürcan Karakaş, was appointed TOGG’s
chief executive officer on Sept. 1, 2018.
Erdoğan on Dec. 27, 2019, unveiled
prototypes for a sport utility vehicle
(SUV) and a sedan, both fully electric and
C-segment models.
A consortium of five major companies,
TOGG will produce five different models
– an SUV, sedan, C-hatchback, B-SUV and
B-MPV – through 2030.
Mass production of the SUV will begin in
2022, with the sedan to follow.
Construction of TOGG’s engineering, design
and production facilities began on July 18,
2020. The facility, built on an area of 1.2
million square meters (12.9 million square
feet) in the Gemlik district of northwestern
Bursa province, is planned for completion in
early 2022.
Around 4,300 staff will be employed within
TOGG, which will include at least 30% female
employees. As for suppliers, TOGG has
reached deals with 10 global corporations –
75% of them from Turkey and the remaining
25% from Europe and Asia.
TOGG named Sergio Rocha – a leading name
in the auto industry who managed projects
in the U.S., Europe and Asia – its chief
operating officer in November 2019.
The former chief designer of global car
brands such as Volkswagen and Mercedes,
Murat Günak, was appointed as head of
design at TOGG in April this year.
Talin Yıldız returned from France to Turkey to
become chief marketing officer.
TOGG chose advanced lithium-ion battery
technology company Farasis as its business
partner for the battery.
The homegrown car will reach 80% charge
in under 30 minutes with fast charging. It
will have a range of between 300 to 500
kilometers (186-310 miles).
Acceleration from 0 to 100 kph (0 to 62
mph) will be in 7.6 seconds with 200
horsepower, and under 4.8 seconds with a
400 horsepower engine.
TOGG announced in April that its C-SUV
model received the iF Design Award 2021,
one of the most prestigious design awards in
the world and a first for a Turkish brand
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