Automotive Exports February 2023

1

Monthly automotive aftermarket magazine
GROUP CHAIRMAN
H. FERRUH ISIK
PUBLISHER:
İstmag Magazin Gazetecilik
İç ve Dış Ticaret Ltd. Şti.
Managing Editor (Responsible)
Mehmet Söztutan
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Advertising Managers
Adem Saçın
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EDİToR
Mehmet Soztutan, Editor-in-Chief
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Enes Karadayı
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International Marketing Coordinator
Ayca Sarioglu
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Editor
Yusuf Okçu
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Cuma Karaman
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Digital Assets Manager
Emre Yener
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Technical Manager
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Yusuf Demirkazık
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Dynamism prevails as usual…
The Turkish automotive industry, which was originally founded for
import-substitution purposes and focused on the domestic market for a long period,
transformed itself into a production base for a number of global models.
In motor vehicles, a large number of EU legislation was adopted. Türkiye has been
continuing efforts to introduce the relevant legal arrangements, and significant progress
has been achieved in this field.
The Turkish automotive industry is one of the four largest exporting and leading investor
industries of the Turkish economy. It is an economically strategic sector in terms of its
significant contribution to the national production and development, direct and indirect
employment and level of technology in Türkiye.
The Turkish automotive parts industry is strong and competitive. It has developed in parallel
with the development of Türkiye's automotive industry both in quality and production
volumes.
The Turkish automotive parts and components industry has now developed to the stage
where it is at a level ready to take advantage of the globalisation and structural changes in
the world automotive industry. A number of firms active in the industry have been named
the "co-designer" in the global vehicles manufactured in Türkiye.
The Turkish automotive supplier industry produces almost all types of parts,
components and spare parts such as engines and engine parts, power train parts and
components, brake and clutch parts and components, hydraulic and pneumatic systems,
suspension systems, security systems, rubber and plastic parts, chassis, frames and parts,
casting and forging, electrical equipment and parts, lighting systems, accumulator
batteries, seats etc.
Our publications, by participating in major international fairs and exhibitions, remain at
the service of those businesses people seeking to increase their share in the increasingly
competitive foreign markets.
Next month, we will participate in Equip Auto Algeria, 2023 to convey the message of
Turkish automotive exporters.
We are convinced that fairs and exhibitions would be instrumental to increase business
opportunities in the automotive industry.
We wish lucrative trade for all participants.
automotiveexport
automotiveexports

Türkiye probes automobile market over
stockpiling, price hikes
Türkiye launched an investigation into
the automobile sector over allegations of
stockpiling and unjustified price increases.
The probe will cover about 260,000
vehicles that were sold since September
last year, the Treasury and Finance Ministry
said in a statement, adding that detailed
information had been requested from 13
distributors and 257 dealerships regarding
the sale process of the vehicles.
Among others, buyers were also requested
to provide information on whether they
made payments for the vehicles in person.
They were also asked whether they
were forced to purchase accessories and
whether the payments for these were
made in person or via bank. The statement
said inquiries were also made about cash
proceeds and potential payments above
list prices. Charges above list prices will be
considered tax evasion, it underscored.
February 2023 10

Automotive
industry targets
$34 billion in
exports this year
Türkiye’s automotive industry aims to
generate $34 billion in export revenues this
year, the Automotive Industry Exporters’
Association (OİB) has said.
“Despite the economic slowdown in
Europe, our largest export market, and
changes in demand conditions, we
managed to increase our export revenues
both in December and the whole of 2022,”
said Baran Çelik, president of the OİB.
In 2023, which marks the centennial of the
republic, the automotive industry targets to
reclaim the title of most-exporting sector
by generating $34 billion in sales to foreign
markets, Çelik said in a statement.
Commenting on the performance of the
local carmakers, Çelik noted that export
revenues amounted to around $31 billion
in 2022. “We lost some $3 billion due to
the euro-dollar exchange rate.”
The industry faced multiple challenges
last year, including the chip shortage,
high inflation, rising energy prices and the
looming risk of global recession, he said.
“Those problems worsened with the
Russian-Ukraine war. However, the
automotive industry succeeded in boosting
its export revenues both in December and
2022 as a whole,” Çelik added.
Last month, exports grew 6.7 percent from
a year ago to touch $3.16 billion, which
marked an all-time-high monthly figure
for the automotive sector and accounted
for 13.8 percent of Türkiye’s overall export
revenues, according to data from the OİB.
Exports by the automotive supply sector
stood at $1.12 billion, exhibiting an annual
increase of 7 percent. This subsector’s
sales to Germany, its largest market, fell
1 percent, but its exports to Russia and
France leaped 56 percent and 18 percent,
respectively.
Local companies’ passenger car exports
generated $1.11 billion in revenue, rising
19 percent from December 2021.
France was the automotive sector’s largest
export market in December 2022. Exports
to this country increased 15 percent yearon-year
to $506 million. The OİB reported
a 3 percent rise in exports to Germany
to $358mn. Italy boosted its purchase
from the Turkish automotive sector by 11
percent to $318mn.
The share of the European Union in the
sector’s exports was 66.4 percent. Sales to
the bloc grew 11 percent from December
2021 to $2 billion. In the whole of 2022,
the industry’s export revenues increased
by 5.7 percent compared to 2021 to
stand at $31 billion, which marked the
second-highest export figure ever for the
automotive sector. The supply industry’s
exports were up 10 percent last year to
reach $12.98 billion. The European Union
accounted for 64.7 percent - or $20 billion -
of the automotive industry’s total exports.
Sales to the Middle Eastern countries rose
20 percent, but exports to Africa dropped
19 percent, the OİB said.
February 2023 12

Türkiye’s Togg, tech ventures join
CES extravaganza
More than a thousand companies
and startups, including Türkiye’s first
domestically produced electric vehicle
brand, have gathered to showcase their
products and the latest innovations at the
world’s biggest tech expo.
The annual CES consumer electronics
extravaganza opened its doors in Las
Vegas with organizers hoping to recapture
the excitement of the pre-pandemic years
and companies hoping to get the most out
of the show, produce some buzz around
their gadgets and capture the attention of
investors.
The CES stage is where Togg, a
manufacturer of Türkiye’s first electric
vehicle (EV), made its international debut
last year when it showed off its “Transition
Concept Smart Device,” an all-electric
fastback concept car.
Fresh from rolling out the long-anticipated
automobile brand, Türkiye has been
highlighting not only the fact that Togg
will be battery powered but also all the
features that will make it more than just
a car.
Formerly known as the Consumer
Electronics Show, the expo has
increasingly become a stage for showing
off electric cars that are becoming
internet-linked computers on wheels.
Companies and startups mainly showcase
innovations in virtual reality, robotics and
consumer tech items.
Calling itself a technology brand that
blends digital and physical experiences,
Togg, along with many other software
and mobility-oriented ventures, returned
to CES this year to explore new global
partnership and investment opportunities
and display its mobility solutions.
The company says it is exhibiting its vision
for the personalized mobility experience
of the “day after tomorrow.”
CES is also hosting one of the largest
gatherings of the startup ecosystem at
Eureka Park, the main exhibition space for
ventures from around the world.
Turkish startups supported by the
Scientific and Technological Research
Council of Türkiye (TÜBITAK) and the
Istanbul Development Agency (ISTKA) are
seeking to explore new partnerships and
opportunities abroad and meet investors
who can help their businesses grow.
Instead of consumer electronics for which
it is formerly known, Vestel is, together
with Togg, showing off mobility-focused
energy solutions. It is displaying charging
solutions, including one it developed
for Togg’s charging station brand called
Trugo and its parent conglomerate Zorlu’s
charging network brand Zorlu Energy
Solutions (ZES).
Among others, Fark Labs, an innovation
and transformation hub, is gathering
ventures engaged in mobility and with a
focus on global growth under a single roof.
More than 40 startups from Türkiye are
said to be attending the CES 2023 edition.
CES has a theme for the first time: how
technology addresses the world’s biggest
challenges. The momentous event
announced it partnered with the World
Academy of Art and Science (WAAS) to
showcase the critical role of technology in
support of the United Nations’ efforts to
advance human security for all.
February 2023 18

“Human Security for All” is a theme
throughout the show, from conference
programming to keynotes highlighting
innovation and products improving the
lives of people around the world.
“CES is the world’s most exciting
technology event, from startups in Eureka
Park to global brands on the main stages,”
said Gary Shapiro, president and CEO of
the Consumer Technology Association
(CTA).
“We are thrilled to spotlight thousands of
innovative companies at this year’s show.
Tech advances are helping to solve the
world’s greatest challenges, and CES 2023
will set the agenda for the year ahead,”
Shapiro noted.
Set to last through, CES is getting back to
normal after the past two shows. It went
utterly virtual in 2021 and saw a significant
drop in 2022 attendance because of the
pandemic. The organizers are hoping to
reach more than 100,000 participants
this year. This year’s attendees include big
names like Amazon and Facebook parent
Meta, as well as Google, Canon, Intel,
Hisense, LG Electronics, Nikon, Samsung,
TCL and Voxx.The show changed its name
to CES several years ago to better reflect
the changing industry and the event,
which had expanded beyond audio and
video to include automotive, digital
health, smartphones, wearables and other
technologies. Togg is at CES showcasing
a unique technology experience space
that appeals to users’ senses of sight,
smell, hearing, and touch. It has designed
an experience to bring visitors together
with the experience of a sustainable
and connected mobility future in a
900-square-meter (9,985-square-foot)
area called the “Digital Mobility Garden.”
The “Digital Mobility Garden,” where
concepts such as human and technology,
art and science, mind and heart, unity and
diversity in the world of duality meet, tells
the future of mobility with digital art.
Togg set up what it calls the Beyond X
area, designed by Togg Design Studio and
developed together with Pininfarina. The
area gives hints of the future of mobility
and offers a personalized mobility
experience to the participants.
A sculptural and circular capsule set
up by Togg as part of its Beyond X
area featuring visuals on personalized
mobility experience is seen at CES 2023,
the world’s largest annual consumer
electronics show, at the Las Vegas
Convention Center, in Las Vegas, Nevada,
U.S.
Starting their journey in a tunnel, visitors
experience mobility accompanied by
visual art that challenges the imagination
in a sculptural and circular capsule.
Participants can experience one of four
possible scenarios such as Saturn, Forest,
Futuristic City and Artistic Türkiye in the
most suitable music and environment.
Beyond X activates the mind, soul, heart
and four senses with an extraordinary
digital experience.
World’s biggest auto show
The presence of auto companies at CES
this year is the biggest ever. Nearly 300
exhibitors are grouped in a dedicated hall,
promising to make it one of the largest
auto shows in the world.
Global launches and keynote events by
Stellantis, BMW and other heavyweights
lead into exhibits featuring the latest in
self-driving technology, electric vehicles
and personalized mobility devices for land,
air and sea.
Other big names at CES include Candela
Marine Technology, GM, Italdesign
Giugiaro, Magna, MobilEye, Waymo, RYSE
and Volvo Penta.
CES is showcasing another rising trend,
namely health care innovations, which
are also one of the major themes at the
gathering.
The past few years have shown that
consumers want to take their health into
their own hands. CES 2023 is bringing even
more digital health innovations and brands
to the global stage, seeking to show how
rapidly this market is growing.
It seeks to mainly showcase advancements
in digital therapeutics, mental wellness,
women’s health tech and telemedicine.
CTA’s Digital Health Studio features the
latest technology for diagnostic and
treatment functions and highlights the
importance of remote connectivity for
accessible health care.
In addition, global brands like John Deere,
LG, Samsung and Siemens are showing
February
2023
20

how innovation can conserve energy and
increase power generation, produce more
sustainable agricultural systems, power
intelligent cities and support access to
clean water.
Büyütech, a manufacturer of camerarelated
advanced driver-assistance system
(ADAS) solutions, is working on the design
and development of a concept integrated
into new-generation vehicles consisting
of a set of sensors, cameras and radars
to make the roads safer and driving more
comfortable.
Büyütech, a Fark Labs startup that is
attending CES for the second time, is also
having its solutions tested by Togg.
ADAS systems are considered an important
step in moving toward autonomous
driving. The ADAS camera on the front side
activates when necessary for greater safety,
helping drivers detect and avoid hazards.
Büyütech’s ADAS system consisting of
cameras is revolutionizing how a vehicle
perceives the world and provides reliable
object and environment recognition
functions.
Its solution meets the safety function
requirements for the General Safety
Regulation (GSR) and EU-NCAP 2023/2025
star compliance and supports Level 2 and
Level 2-plus autonomous driving.
Saykal, one of the initiatives supported by
Fark Labs and headquartered in IT Valley,
produces electronic sensors used in car
doors and seat belts and conducts research
in various fields spreading to chip design.
Its sensors are used in Togg vehicles’ doors
and their seat belts.
Saykal has over a decade of experience
developing electronic products and
embedded software for various industries,
particularly automotive. It works on
advanced technology detection and
imaging systems for strategic and scalable
sectors on a global scale.
The company was founded thanks to a
capital support program extended by
Industry and Technology Ministry in 2010.
As a venture from Türkiye, Saykal
Electronics CEO Yücel Saykal says they
have been centering efforts on software
technology and engineering works over the
last 12 years.
Saykal noted that they look to increase
their business volume and expand their
customer portfolio by strengthening their
infrastructure with the support of their
investors, stressing an aim to make Saykal a
tech player on a global scale.
Another venture attending CES 2023
is Optiyol, a startup supported by Fark
Labs and a graduate of Türk Telekom TT
Ventures’ acceleration program PILOT.
Optiyol is a next-generation approach
to route optimization that pledges to
transform delivery management and meet
the standards in supply chain management
processes.
It features a mobile driver application and
offers companies smart route-planning
software. Optiyol provides multi-stop route
planning and dynamic route optimization
to take last-mile delivery service to the next
level.
Founded by Tuba Gözbaşı and Ozan
Gözbaşı, Optiyol provides a unique
software as a service (SaaS) routing
solution to many sectors carrying out
logistics operations, from fast-moving
consumer goods and retail to e-commerce
and transportation.
It digitalizes both micro-distribution
and macro-distribution operations for
its customers with specially designed
algorithms for the supply chain needs of
enterprises.
Providing timely and cost-effective
transportation of shipments with dynamic
route optimization, Optiyol says it offers
a reduction in fuel costs by 15%-25%,
the number of trips by 5%-10%, while
increasing on-time delivery rates by 20%-
30%.
The mobile driver application allows
vehicles and orders to be monitored in
real-time. It enables the sender, carrier and
buyers to be informed instantly about the
entire transportation process from end to
end.
February
2023
22

ARES S1 Coupé painted by the artist
Daniela Boo for Art Basel Miami
ARES Modena, the Italian Lifestyle
brand, is gearing up for Art Basel 2022
by collaborating with artist Daniela Boo
painted front elements of the ARES S1
Coupé model located in its studio in the
Miami Design District.
Art Basel is one of the most important
events in Miami with many collectors and
connoisseurs gathering in South Florida for
the occasion.
The Modena-based company initiated
a strategic shift in 2021, moving
from a provider of custom aesthetics
enhancement services for the luxury car
industry to the manufacturing of its own,
self-designed luxury models. The Italian
Lifestyle brand is now further accelerating
with the creation of new range of electric
mobility luxury products allowing ARES to
pivot and tap into an even higher growth
segment.
Alongside the new product launches
ARES is also developing and expanding its
network of Studios, opening three new
sites (Bologna International Airport, Milan
and London) by the end of 2022.
To support this ambitious plan, the
Company announced in August 2022 the
admission of three new shareholders with
profound experience in the automotive,
finance and luxury sectors: Alfredo
Altavilla, Boris Collardi and Marco Bizzarri.
They join the board of director of ARES, in
addition to the Swiss entrepreneur Philippe
Gaydoul, who joined as shareholder of
ARES in 2019.
The company opened the Miami Studio
in 2021 to provide the North American
market a unique location to immerse
themselves in the brand philosophy and
product line. All products are hand built
as per the client’s specification utilizing
the highest level of engineering and finest
materials.
Daniela Boo has a history of painting iconic
supercars and was selected by various
automotive brands for unique artistic
expressions, her creative work combines
hyper realism and speed. A number of
these aesthetic vehicles are on display in
museums and private collections globally.
Daniela Boo is represented in Miami by
BlackTower Gallery, a contemporary art
space located in the Design District.
February 2023 24

Their main objective is to connect art,
collecting, and aesthetic enjoyment.
BlackTower Gallery offers a wide range of
creative proposals, governed by quality
criteria and constant experimentation.
The art car culture evolved in the 1960s,
and there is rich tradition over the years
that has transformed the body of an
automobile into a new canvas for artists to
display their talents and passion. Many of
these art cars have been inspired by movies
or personal visions of the artist, they also
provide a sense of individuality. Events
throughout the United States have been
organized to showcase these masterpieces,
and there is an increased interest in these
types of works of art.
The combination of curves on the exterior
body with art can create an emotional
influence and arouse desire, it is all about
having a meaningful aesthetic feel. The
fusion of shapes and colors can give the
vehicle a unique personality which pushes
the boundaries of design and artisan skills.
The United States has one of the most
unique and diversified car cultures in the
world. The fascination and romance for
the automobile has been around since the
car was first invented. The car was a form
of individual independence and personal
mobility to explore new cities in the privacy
of your own space.
Dany Bahar, CEO and co-Founder of ARES
Modena, commented: “I am delighted by
the collaboration between ARES and the
artist Daniela Boo, I believe it represents a
new confirmation of the constant growth
of the company towards a luxury brand
focused on art and lifestyle experiences.”
ARES MODENA, ENGINEERS OF
EMOTIONS
ARES’ unique facility delivers a new level
of design, development, manufacture and
sales of coach-built and unique cars in the
heart of Italy and through an expanding
global network of studios. The advanced
23,000 m² ARES facility in Modena opened
in January 2018 and, in bringing all
facets of coachbuilding under one roof,
immediately set a new global standard for
the design, development, production and
handover of bespoke, personalised and
unique cars.
ARES’ CEO Dany Bahar, along with his
long-term Dubai-based business partner
and ARES Executive Chairman, Waleed Al
Ghafari, founded ARES and spotted the
opportunity to move the coachbuilding
business to another level of service by
developing the world’s first ‘concept-tocreation’
coachbuilding facility. Together
they attracted a group of experienced and
passionate multinational shareholders.
For the first time, every aspect of bringing
automotive dreams to reality take place
under one roof in rapid time and to an
extremely high level of quality. It is a
unique combination of luxury car brand
resources with artisan principles and skills.
Merging traditional Italian craftsmanship
values with the advanced ones, ARES
realises the dreams and visions of
enthusiasts creating one-off, unparalleled
vehicles, impossible to obtain elsewhere.
To this end, a shared creative experience
that aims at providing a completely tailormade
product. This is the ultimate answer
to the ongoing demand for customisation
and the desire to stand out from the crowd
of our own time.
February
2023
26

Türkiye aims to
make $16B in
exports to Iraq
in 2023
Türkiye aims to reach $16 billion in exports
to Iraq in 2023 to put it in second place
in the ranking of countries to which it
makes the highest sales, Foreign Economic
Relations Board (DEİK) Türkiye-Iraq
Business Council Chairperson Halit Acar
said.
Acar told Anadolu Agency (AA) that
Türkiye-Iraq relations are progressing
and exports to the country are increasing
day by day. Sharing that $12.6 billion was
exported to Iraq in the 11 months of this
year, Acar said that while Iraq was the fifth
in the list of the countries with the highest
exports in 2021, it rose to third place this
year.Stating that the highest exports to Iraq
were made from Istanbul with $2.6 billion,
Gaziantep with $1.8 billion and Mardin
with $833 million, Acar said: “We aim to
export over $14 billion by the end of 2022.”
“Last year, we made an export of $11.2
billion. When we look at it as of the year,
we see an increase of 25%.” Stating that
products such as cereals, pulses, oil seeds,
chemicals, paper and forestry materials,
furniture and steel are exported to Iraq,
Acar said, “There are great opportunities in
Iraq. A new government was formed about
1.5 months ago. The current government is
planning to invest in many areas and I hope
that Türkiye will definitely take a share in
these areas.”
He said that Türkiye has high standards
of production and has companies that
have proved their success in the sectors
they operate, one of them being the
construction sector. There are plenty of
projects that Turkish contractors can play
a role in Iraq, he said, citing electricity,
mass housing, agricultural irrigation
and infrastructure, superstructure and
transportation projects as examples
in addition to the Mosul Organized
Industrial Zone construction area, health
centers or school contracting. A budget
of approximately $100 billion has been
allocated for those projects, Acar said,
stressing that “Turkish businesspeople
need to benefit from this budget.”
“Iraq is both our long-time friend and
neighbor country.
The warmer relations we have between the
two countries, the more our trade benefits
from this,” he added.
February 2023 28

Toyota top-selling automaker for 3rd year in row
Japan’s Toyota was the world’s top-selling
automaker in 2022, retaining its lead over
German rival Volkswagen for the third year,
company data showed .
Despite the chip shortage and Covidrelated
supply chain disruption, Toyota
and its subsidiaries sold nearly 10.5 million
vehicles last year, around the same as in
2021.
In comparison, Volkswagen Group – which
held the top spot until 2020 when it was
overtaken by Toyota – sold 8.3 million units
last year, an annual drop of 7%.
“Despite the impact of production
constraints caused by the spread
of COVID-19, increased demand for
semiconductors, and other factors, global
sales were at the same level year-onyear
as a result of solid demand centered
around Asia,” the Japanese car giant said.
In 2022, Toyota sold 2.7 million electrified
vehicles, around 5% more than the
previous year. The vast majority of those –
2.6 million – were hybrid models.
Toyota pioneered hybrid cars, but some
critics say the company has been slow to
make the shift to battery-powered engines
even as demand soars for low-emission
automobiles.
A year ago, Toyota hiked its targets for the
sector and announced it would roll out 30
Battery-powered electric models by the
end of the decade.
Mio Kato, an analyst at Lightstream
Research who publishes on Smartkarma,
told Agence France-Presse (AFP) that
Toyota was likely to keep its top-selling
crown in the near term.
“In terms of the actual volumes, it will
still be difficult for Volkswagen or General
Motors to surpass Toyota easily because
both are under more pressure in China
with their internal combustion engine
business,” he said.
Electric-only carmakers like China’s BYD will
one day pose “a genuine threat” to Toyota,
he said, because they have strong battery
technology and “more experience and
better branding” with EVs.
But electric-only automakers are still
too small to have a realistic chance of
competing with legacy carmakers for
several years at least, Kato said.
Toyota named Koji Sato its new president
and CEO, replacing third-generation
chief executive Akio Toyoda in a surprise
reshuffle of the company’s leadership.
February 2023 30

Türkiye’s
construction
machinery
sector increases
capacity
Türkiye’s construction equipment sector
worked by increasing its production
capacity in 2022 in order to keep
up with the intense domestic and
international demands, a prominent sector
representative has said.
“Although 2022 was a difficult year for
the real estate sector trying to recover
from the impact of the pandemic, efforts
for production, export, and employment
continued uninterruptedly,” Nadir Akgün,
chairman of the board of directors
of Türkiye Construction Equipment
Distributors and Manufacturers Association
(İMDER), said.
“As the Turkish construction machinery
sector, we worked hard to meet the intense
domestic and international demands in
2022. We are faced with growing demand
every day,” he added. “We are trying to
keep up with the demands by increasing our
production capacity and working hours.”
Akgün noted that the Turkish market ranks
fifth in Europe in terms of volume.
“Türkiye is the third fastest growing
country on average for the last decade with
its growth rate,” he said. “We export to
133 countries in total, especially in Europe,
Middle East, Russia, North Africa and
Central Asia markets.”
İMDER is working to have a say in the
transformation process in the global
economy, Akgün said.
“There are important changes in the global
economy such as digitalization, climate
change and changes in supply chains,”
he added. “In order to have a say in the
transformation process, we are shaping our
road map with ‘Digitalization, Zero Carbon
Footprint and Sharing Economy’ models.”
The “third International Construction and
Material Handling Machinery Congress
and Rental Summit” will be held in Istanbul
Haliç Congress Center on Oct. 3 and 4,
Akgün said.
“The summit will be held with the
participation of approximately 1,000 senior
sector representatives and bureaucrats
from more than 55 different countries
and over 200 national and international
companies,” he added.
February 2023 32

Tesla owners in
China protest
surprise price
cuts they missed
Hundreds of Tesla owners gathered at the
automaker’s showrooms and distribution
centers in China. They demanded rebates
and credit after sudden price cuts they
said meant they had overpaid for electric
cars they bought earlier.
About 200 recent buyers of the Tesla
Model Y and Model 3 gathered at a Tesla
delivery center in Shanghai to protest
against the U.S. carmaker’s decision to
slash prices for the second time in three
months. Many said they had believed
that prices Tesla charged for its cars late
last year would not be cut as abruptly
or as profoundly as the automaker just
announced in a move to spur sales and
support production at its Shanghai plant.
In addition, the scheduled expiration
of a government subsidy at the end of
2022 also drove many to finalize their
purchases. Videos posted on social
media showed crowds at Tesla stores and
February 2023 36

delivery centers in other Chinese cities
from Chengdu to Shenzhen, suggesting
broader consumer backlash.
Surprise discounts, Tesla’s EV prices in
China are now between 13% and 24%
below their September levels.
Analysts have said Tesla’s move was
likely to boost its sales, which tumbled
in December, and force other EV makers
to cut prices too, at a time of faltering
demand in the world’s largest market for
battery-powered cars.
While established automakers often
discount to manage inventory and keep
factories running when demand weakens,
Tesla operates without dealerships, and
transparent pricing has been part of its
brand image.
“It may be a normal business practice, but
this is not how a responsible enterprise
should behave,” said one Tesla owner
protesting at the company’s delivery center
in Shanghai’s Minhang suburb who gave his
surname as Zhang.
He and the other Tesla owners, who said
they had taken delivery in the final months
of 2022, said they were frustrated with the
abruptness of price cut and Tesla’s lack of
an explanation to recent buyers.
Zhang said police facilitated a meeting
between Tesla staff and the assembled
owners at which the owners handed over
a list of demands, including an apology and
compensation or other credits. He added
the Tesla staff had agreed to respond.
About a dozen police officers could be seen
at the Shanghai protest, and most of the
videos of the other demonstrations also
showed a significant police presence at the
Tesla sites.
Protests are not a rare occurrence in China.
Over the years, people have come out in
large numbers over issues such as financial
or property scams. Still, authorities have
been on higher alert after protests in
Chinese cities and top universities at
the end of November against COVID-19
restrictions.
Other videos of Tesla owners protesting
were also posted on Chinese social media
platforms.
One video, which Reuters verified was
filmed at a Tesla store in the southwestern
city of Chengdu, showed a crowd chanting,
“Return the money, refund our cars.”
Another, which appeared to be filmed
in Beijing, showed police cars arriving to
disperse crowds outside a Tesla store.
Reuters was unable to verify the content
of either video. Tesla does not plan to
compensate buyers who took delivery
before the most recent price cut, a
spokesman for Tesla China told.
He did not respond when asked to
comment on the protests.
China accounted for about a third of Tesla’s
global sales in 2021 and its Shanghai
factory, which employs about 20,000
workers, is its single most productive and
profitable plant.
Analysts have been optimistic about the
potential for Tesla’s price cuts to drive sales
growth a year after announcing its next
new vehicle, the Cybertruck.
“Nowhere else in the world is Tesla faced
with the kind of competitors that they have
here (in China),” said Bill Russo, head of
consultancy Automobility Ltd in Shanghai.
“They are in a much bigger EV market with
companies that can price more aggressively
than they can, until now.”
In 2021, Tesla faced a public relations storm
after an unhappy customer climbed on a
car at the Shanghai auto show to protest
against the company’s handling of her
complaints about her car’s brakes.
Tesla responded by apologizing to
Chinese consumers for not addressing the
complaints in a timely way.
February 2023 38

EBRD to provide
largest-ever
loan to support
EV adoption in
Türkiye
The European Bank for Reconstruction and
Development (EBRD) is providing a $110
million loan to Enerjisa Enerji A.S. in Türkiye
to finance a comprehensive investment
package that includes expanding the
country’s electric vehicle (EV) charging
infrastructure.
The proceeds of the loan will enable
Enerjisa to modernise its electricity
distribution network with efficient
equipment and smart-grid applications
and expand its EV charging infrastructure.
The investments are part of a capital
expenditure programme approved by the
country’s energy regulator.
Esarj, one of Enerjisa’s subsidiaries,
was one of Türkiye’s first EV charging
companies and remains a key player in the
field. Enerjisa, itself, is a major electricity
distributor, serving a quarter of Türkiye’s
population.
In addition to modernizing grid applications
and expanding its EV charging network, the
investment will allow Enerjisa to expand
its distributed energy business through its
Enerjisa Customer Solutions subsidiary,
which provides sustainable and innovative
energy solutions.
The loan was approved by the EBRD’s
Managing Director for Sustainable
Infrastructure Group, Nandita Parshad, and
Enerjisa Energy’s CEO Murat Pınar, at the
EBRD’s London headquarters.
“This is the largest-ever financing for
electric vehicle charging and distributed
generation that the EBRD has sponsored
anywhere in the world and thus it is
groundbreaking for us,” Parshad told
Anadolu Agency (AA) after the approval.
She said while the financing is significant in
terms of size but it is even more important
as it supports environment-friendly
transportation, which is relatively new but
has a scope of being an essential sector
in the future. The EBRD, Parshad said, has
financed different renewable and clean
energy projects in Türkiye but financing
electric vehicle charging is pushing the
bank’s operations to the next level. “In a
year, we tend to finance 1.5 billion pounds
($1.6 billion) equivalent in Türkiye and this
February 2023 40

$110 million is about 8% of what we do in
a country in a year as a single transaction.
We will learn a lot from this project,” she
stated.
Enerjisa Energy CEO Pınar said the
renewable energy capacity growth
worldwide in the next five years is set to be
equal the growth achieved in the past 20
years.
“Türkiye is expected to increase its
renewable capacity by about 65% in the
next five years. The electric vehicle pool
in Türkiye is anticipated to reach at least
2 million in 2030, similar to the global
trend in the electric vehicle market. While
leading this rapid transformation, it is of
great significance to promptly carry out
sustainable and efficient investments that
prioritize technology,” he said.
“Thus, we will increase our investments
that enables us to offer solutions to our
customers with renewable resources,
expand the electric vehicle charging
infrastructure and upgrade our electricity
distribution network with more efficient
and technological equipment as well as
smart grid practices thanks to the financing
we are supplied via this agreement with
the EBRD,” added Pinar.
Parshad said reaching net zero emissions,
which a significant number of countries
have committed to, needs increasing
electrification and moving sources of
electricity to renewable sources.
“Every country is going to have to double
and triple the amount of electricity that
it generates if they decarbonize their
economies. Looking at a market as big
as Türkiye and the energy transition that
Türkiye needs to make. That electrification
needs to be happening today,” she said,
adding that this is business growth and
that electric vehicle infrastructure needs
to be put in place first before people start
buying electric cars. “So it is an essential
prerequisite for decarbonizing transport,”
Parshad underlined.
On the EBRD’s new financing plans in
Türkiye, she said the long-term strategy
and focus in Türkiye is more renewables,
electrification and more shift toward
renewable sources of other sectors as 2023
marks a milestone for the EBRD in terms of
all activities.
The bank pledged to ensure alignment of
all its activities with the goals of the Paris
Agreement by Jan. 1. As of the beginning
of this year, the bank’s investments
from direct lending to providing indirect
financing through financial institutions will
be aligned and assessed according to the
goals of Paris climate accord.
The Paris Agreement is a legally binding
international treaty adopted by 196
countries in 2015 in Paris. The goal of the
agreement is to limit global warming to 1.5
degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) by
the end of the century.
Clean sources are now not only good for
the climate but also the economic option in
most economies.
“Investing in renewables is actually bringing
costs down and improving infrastructure
at a lower cost than before. I think that
imperative to invest in greener and
renewables will become an even stronger
economic imperative going forward. The
geopolitical challenges we have witnessed
on the energy side also make renewables
the most secure form of energy by far,” she
concluded.
The EBRD is active in 36 economies from
Central Europe to Central Asia, the Western
Balkans, and the Southern and Eastern
Mediterranean.
The EBRD is a leading institutional investor
Türkiye. Since 2009, the Bank has invested
more than 16.9 billion pounds in various
sectors of the country’s economy, almost
all of it in the private sector.
February
41 2023

Rohde & Schwarz launches Benchmarker
3 to drive network benchmarking evolution
The end-user quality of experience
(QoE) for a mobile network is one the
main factors influencing customer churn
and has a direct impact on the business
of mobile network operators (MNOs).
Rohde & Schwarz, global market leader
in network benchmarking, introduces its
next generation benchmarking solution
which allows MNOs to master increasing
challenges from technological innovation
as well as cost, time and competitive
pressures. The new solution reduces
complexity and helps MNOs make
decisions about systematic and end-user
centric network improvements.
Driven by overall technological evolution
in telecommunications, the entire mobile
network ecosystem is becoming more and
more dynamic and complex for MNOs.
Versatile network technologies up-to
5G, infrastructure and new architecture
like Open RAN co-exist, and the ongoing
deployment of private networks adds
more complexity. Today’s relevant mobile
network information and data can be
obsolete tomorrow. Therefore, it is
essential for MNOs to efficiently collect
and process data in a very short time to
maximize benefits. To this end, Rohde &
Schwarz is launching the next generation
benchmarking solution, featuring the
Benchmarker 3 data collection platform
and a set of unique features that will
allow MNOs to reduce complexity and
costs while gaining more value out of their
collected data.
High data quality for reliable results
Since the beginnings of cellular technology,
Rohde & Schwarz has been a pioneer
and market leader for RF and QoE-centric
testing solutions. Now, the company is
introducing Benchmarker 3, the third
generation of its own benchmarking
hardware and the technological core
of the data collection equipment.
Rohde & Schwarz experts designed
and manufactured the new hardware,
bringing together decades of expertise
in hardware product engineering and
in-house production, close collaboration
with customers and extensive experience
from multi-national network benchmarking
projects. Benchmarker 3 offers a reduced
footprint for easier installation and fewer
computing components for the same
number of measurement devices making
it easier to configure and maintain. New
airflow management enables temperature
control also for devices that tend to
overheat when handling high 5G data
throughput. The modular concept enables
an easy expansion that can be applied
to new installations as well as existing
Benchmarker II systems.
All these factors are combined in the new
Benchmarker 3 and ensure uniform, stable
conditions and highly reliable operations
during large-scale network benchmarking
measurement campaigns. In summary,
the data collection platform has higher
performance, a more compact design, is
lighter, consumes less power and is fully
backward compatible with the components
of its forerunner Benchmarker II.
February 2023 44

Smart campaign automation to reduce OPEX
To reduce operational expenses (OPEX) and simplify tiresome
recurring tasks, Rohde & Schwarz offers cloud-based
configurations as well as a set of state-of-the-art features to
remotely control and monitor the test system. Along with the
launch of Benchmarker 3, Rohde & Schwarz is introducing
new smart end-to-end campaign automation management
that automates multiple background tasks for the entire
workflow of a network benchmarking measurement
campaign and orchestrates data collection, fleet management
and post processing.
More value from data in shorter time
Extracting fast and relevant insights from the collected
data is key, especially since more dynamic and versatile
network environments require shorter reaction times. In
order to address this, Rohde & Schwarz has enhanced its
proven SmartAnalytics suite with new features, including the
generation of automated insights and reports, more efficient
management of big data from continuous benchmarking
campaigns combined with new special data structures for
long-term and historical trend analysis as well as smart
end-to-end campaign automation. In combination with
machine learning assisted test use cases, SmartAnalytics now
has higher performance and can extract more value out of
collected data in shorter time than ever before.
Harmonized test methodology reduces complexity
Rohde & Schwarz network benchmarking solutions support
the ETSI (European Telecommunications Standards Institute)
harmonized test methodology documented in TR 103 559.
The integrative scoring methodology substantially reduces
complexity since it indicates the network performance based
on terabytes of aggregated data in a single performance
score per operator. Moreover, SmartAnalytics offers a
seamless direct drill down feature that navigates in a few
clicks from the high-level view to the application view and
down to lower layers, including the physical network layer.
Users can retrieve single test samples from terabytes of data,
identify root-causes of failed test samples and understand
how these impact QoE. The Rohde & Schwarz network
benchmarking solutions empower mobile network operators
and regulatory authorities across the globe to transparently
and systematically assess and increase the quality and
performance of mobile networks, in order to enhance the
perceived quality for end-users
45

Togg to enter
foreign markets
in two years
The aim is to commence the export of
domestically produced Togg vehicles in two
years after the vehicles are introduced to
the local market, Industry and Technology
Minister Mustafa Varank has said.
Varank visited Togg’s “Digital Mobility
Garden” at the major CES tech show in the
U.S.
Togg, the country’s first homemade electric
vehicle, will start to collect pre-orders in
February.
“We will see Togg vehicles on [Türkiye’s]
roads toward the end of March. Our target
is to start exporting [Togg] two years after
they are introduced to the local market,”
Varank said.
Works are underway to obtain necessary
permissions for Togg vehicles in several
countries but chiefly in Europe, he added.
“Presently, there is demand [of Togg
vehicles] from the world’s different
regions…from the Middle East, Central Asia
and Europe,” Varank said.
The inauguration of the Togg factory took
place on Oct. 29, 2022, in the Gemlik
district of the industrial province of
Bursa, and the first car rolled off from the
assembly line with a ceremony attended by
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
Togg plans to produce 20,000 C-SUV
vehicles this year, and its plant will initially
have an annual production capacity of
100,000 vehicles but the capacity will
later rise to 175,000 units as Togg starts to
manufacture new models.
Togg has plans to list on a stock exchange
abroad, Gürcan Karakaş, its CEO, said in
November last year.
“Listing our shares has always been part of
our plans. But our primary target is a stock
market listing abroad,” he said at that time.
“We think we should do that on a large
stock exchange with our share in the
market at that time,” Karakaş said without
providing other details. The introduction
of Togg vehicles is expected to give a boost
to electric vehicles in Türkiye. Including
new models to be introduced by other
carmakers, electric vehicle sales in Türkiye
are expected to reach 40,000 units in
2023, which means the share of EVs in
total vehicle sales will climb to 7 percent.
A total of 7,733 electric vehicles were
sold in Türkiye last year, up 172 percent
from 2021, according to data from the
Automotive Distributors’ and Mobility
Association (ODMD). Electric vehicle s
February 2023 46

McLaren Applied and Elaphe to enhance
EV packaging, efficiency and driving dynamics
McLaren Applied has partnered with
in-wheel motor specialists Elaphe to help
automakers boost overall electric vehicle
(EV) performance. The British engineering
and technology pioneer is combining its
next-generation IPG5 800V silicon carbide
inverter with Elaphe’s range of in-wheel
motors creating a highly efficient system
that will enhance EV packaging, efficiency
and driving dynamics.
At just 3.79L in size and weighing 5.5
kilograms, IPG5 provides unrivalled power
density, efficiency and motor control.
Alongside Elaphe’s compact high-torque
in-wheel motor, the combined powertrain
solution saves space, unlocking new
possibilities for EV packaging.
Derived from decades of innovation in
top tier automotive and motorsports
applications, McLaren Applied’s IPG5
is highly controllable, offering variable
switching frequencies and unparalleled
motor response. The variability in switching
frequency up to 32kHz enables engineers
to use a faster, more efficient and
lightweight drivetrain.
“We believe efficiency and driving
dynamics will play an important part in the
next waves of electrification,” commented
Stephen Lambert, Head of Electrification
at McLaren Applied. “Our IPG5 800V
inverter enables customers to run different
switching frequencies. And with variable
switching frequencies comes the ability to
run higher speed motors that are smaller
and lighter. By combining IPG5 with
Elaphe’s high speed in-wheel motors, we’re
not only making the EV powertrain more
responsive and efficient, we’re making it
more cost-effective too. That’s a compelling
proposition.”
“Elaphe is on a mission to make cars safer,
more convenient and more exciting to
drive. This is why we are fully committed
to removing all mechanical constraints and
making the powertrain software defined,”
said Dr. Gorazd Gotovac, CTO of Elaphe
Propulsion Technologies. “An efficient and
highly responsive powertrain system is
at the core of this, which is why McLaren
Applied is the most natural partner and
their IPG5 inverter is a perfect fit for
our system. Combined with our motor
control and powertrain control software it
provides unprecedented controllability and
efficiency.”
The automotive team at McLaren Applied
sees efficiency as leading what it describes
as the next ‘wave’ of electrification. The
first involved early pioneers of technology,
the second, current wave is denoted by the
breakthrough of EVs to the mainstream.
The third stage is efficiency and will see
inverter technology rapidly adopt silicon
carbide (SiC) semiconductors, especially
in 800V architectures and vehicles that
need longer range where efficient power
electronics are key.
The fourth stage focuses on drivability and
adding character back into the powertrains
of electric vehicles, improving driver
engagement and differentiation from the
competition. “High switching frequencies
and the ability to control the drivetrain
more sensitively enables you to start
programming different characteristics into
the drivetrain. With this, we can introduce
character that some might say is lacking
from EVs,” adds Lambert.
The next-generation IPG5 800V silicon
carbide inverter can power electric motors
to more than 400kW peak, 250 kW
continuous, at an unprecedented weight
and volume. It has been designed for
automotive applications, including direct
drive, that are capable of operating highspeed
motors efficiently and adhere to ISO
26262 ASIL-D standards.
February 2023 48

Bulgaria signs
deal to use
Türkiye’s gas
terminals
Bulgaria on Jan. 3 gained access to Türkiye’s
terminals and gas transmission network
under a long-term deal that will help the
country replace supplies once provided by
Russia.
Bulgaria’s state gas company Bulgargaz
and the Turkish gas transmission company
Botas signed a 13-year deal that grants
the Balkan neighbor access to Türkiye’s
terminals for liquefied natural gas.
According to Bulgaria’s Energy Minister,
Rosen Hristov, the agreement solves the
problem of Bulgaria’s lack of sufficient
infrastructure for unloading liquefied
natural gas. Bulgaria, which ahead of
Moscow’s invasion in Ukraine was almost
fully dependent on Russian gas, is looking
for alternative gas supplies at reasonable
prices after Russia cut off deliveries in April
over Sofia’s refusal to pay in rubles, the
Russian currency.
Under the current deal, the liquefied
natural gas that Bulgaria will buy on
international markets will be unloaded
and processed in Turkish LNG terminals
and then transferred via the Botas gas
network to Bulgaria.The deal foresees up
to 1.5 billion cubic meters of natural gas
being transferred annually to Bulgaria from
Türkiye. Bulgaria has already signed a longterm
contract with Azerbaijan for nearly 1
billion cubic meters of natural gas which it
receives via Türkiye’s gas network.
The rest of Bulgaria’s needs, which are
slightly more than 3 billion cubic meters
per year, is covered through LNG imports
from Greece.
February 2023 52

Tesla makes China boss
highest-profile executive after Musk
Tesla’s China chief Tom Zhu has been
promoted to take direct oversight of the
electric carmaker’s U.S. assembly plants as
well as sales operations in North America
and Europe, according to an internal
posting of reporting lines reviewed by
Reuters.
The Tesla posting showed that Zhu’s title
of vice president for Greater China had
not changed and that he also retained
his responsibilities as Tesla’s most senior
executive for sales in the rest of Asia.
The move makes Zhu the highest-profile
executive at Tesla after Chief Executive Elon
Musk, with direct oversight for deliveries in
all of its major markets and operations of
its key production hubs.
The reporting lines for Zhu would keep
Tesla’s vehicle design and development –
both areas where Musk has been heavily
involved – separate while an apparent
deputy to Musk on the more near-term
challenges of managing global sales and
output.
Tesla did not immediately respond to a
Reuters request for comment.
Reuters reviewed the organizational chart
that had been posted internally by Tesla
and confirmed the change with two people
who had seen it. They asked not to be
named because they were not authorized
to discuss the matter.
Zhu and a team of his reports were brought
in by Tesla late last year to troubleshoot
production issues in the U.S., driving an
expectation among his colleagues then that
he was being groomed for a bigger role.
Zhu’s appointment to a global role comes
when Musk has been distracted by his
acquisition of Twitter and Tesla analysts
and investors have urged action that would
deepen the senior executive bench and
allow him to focus on Tesla.
Under Zhu, Tesla’s Shanghai plant
rebounded strongly from COVID-19
lockdowns in China.
Tesla said that it had delivered 405,278
vehicles in the fourth quarter, short of
Wall Street estimates, according to data
compiled by Refinitiv.
The company had delivered 308,600
vehicles in the same period a year earlier.
The Tesla managers reporting to Zhu
include: Jason Shawhan, director of
manufacturing at the Gigafactory in
Texas; Hrushikesh Sagar, senior director of
manufacturing at Tesla’s Fremont factory;
Joe Ward, vice president in charge of
Europe, the Middle East and Africa; and
Troy Jones, vice president of North America
sales and service, according to the Tesla
notice on reporting lines reviewed by
Reuters.
February 2023 54

Tesla country managers in China, Japan,
Australia and New Zealand continued to
report to Zhu, the notice revealed.
Zhu does not have a direct report at Tesla’s
still-ramping Berlin plant, but a person with
knowledge of the matter said responsibility
for that operation would come with the
reporting line for Amsterdam-based Ward.
Ward could not be immediately reached for
comment.
Zhu, who was born in China but now
holds a New Zealand passport, joined
Tesla in 2014. Before that he was a project
manager at a company established by
his MBA classmates at Duke University,
advising Chinese contractors working on
infrastructure projects in Africa.
During Shanghai’s two-month COVID-19
lockdown, Zhu was among the first batch
of employees sleeping in the factory as
they sought to keep it running, people who
work with him have said.
Zhu, a no-fuss manager who sports a buzz
cut, favors Tesla-branded fleece jackets
and has lived in a government-subsidized
apartment that is a 10-minute drive from
the Shanghai Gigafactory. It was not
immediately clear whether he would move
after his promotion. He takes charge of
Tesla’s main production hubs when the
company is readying for the launch of
cyberattack and a revamped version of
its Model 3 sedan. Tesla has also said it is
developing a cheaper electric vehicle but
has not provided details on that plan.
When Tesla posted a picture on Twitter last
month to celebrate its Austin, Texas, plant
hitting a production milestone for its Model
Y, Zhu was among hundreds of workers
smiling on the factory floor.
Allan Wang, who was promoted to vice
president in charge of sales in China in July,
was listed as the legal representative for
the operation in registration papers filed
with Chinese regulators in a change by the
company last month.
Tesla board member James Murdoch said
in November the company had recently
identified a potential successor to Musk
without naming the person. Murdoch did
not respond to a request for comment.
Elecktrek previously reported that Zhu
would take responsibility for U.S. sales,
delivery and service.
February
55 2023

Everrati completes build of first redefined electric
Porsche 911 (964) for Us Market
Everrati Automotive Limited (Everrati),
the leading technology company
specialising in the redefining and
futureproofing of automotive icons through
the integration of
cutting-edge electric vehicle (EV)
powertrains, has completed the build of its
first Porsche 911 (964) for the US market.
Featuring a state-of-the-art OEMgrade
electric powertrain designed and
developed at its global headquarters in
Oxfordshire, England, the full build of the
redefined 911 (964) has been carried out to
the highest standards by Everrati’s technical
partner, Aria Group.
Based in Irvine, California, Aria has peerless
expertise in low-volume, high-end vehicle
engineering production supporting
world-leading OEMs and reimagination
specialists, an arrangement which enables
Everrati to manufacture on both sides of
the Atlantic.
With multiple 911 (964) models in build,
demand for Everrati’s products is surging
in North America, with customers in
multiple US States, and in Canada. The
first completed US built cars are now
ready for delivery and signify the UKbased
company’s continued growth in all
global markets and momentum as the
international go-to creator of dream car
electrification. Its advanced bespoke
OEM-grade electric powertrain technology
transforms and preserves masterpieces
of automotive engineering and design,
into rolling pieces of art that are not
only sustainable luxury models fit for the
21st century but also can be enjoyed for
multiple generations.
“It is a huge milestone for Everrati to see
the completion of our first US customer
car, which will now undergo final predelivery
testing before handover to the
customer. This is both a sign of our rapidly
growing presence in markets around
the globe, especially North America,
and a representation of the shifting
paradigm in car ownership for a conscious,
progressive, and responsible generation.
Our Signature 911 (964) is a redefinition
of an automotive icon that will have its
legacy live on for generations to enjoy.
It is a truly sustainable supercar. I’d like
to thank our partners, Aria Group, who
from their state-of-the art base in Irvine,
California, have expertly led the build of
our first customer car - and are building
multiple redefined 911 (964) models for
Everrati customers - showing just why
they are the leaders in low-volume, highend
vehicle engineering and production,”
commented Justin Lunny, Everrati Founder
and CEO. The 964 generation of the 911
came onto the market in 1989 and remains
a symbol of performance and engineering,
matched by Everrati’s passion to preserve
and redefine this legacy. Everrati’s
‘Signature’ wide body edition is based
upon a fully restored 911 (964), featuring
carbon fibre body elements and a stateof-the-art
EV powertrain: a 62kWh battery
pack and battery management system,
capable of delivering an emission-free
range of more than 200 miles and sub-4-
second 0-60mph acceleration. Combined
AC and DC Fast charging completes the
high-tech specification. The development of
Everrati’s leading powertrain technology is
supported by a robust network of extremely
experienced and best-in-class partners and
suppliers to deliver OEM-grade products,
processes, and quality. Its growing portfolio
of redefined automotive icons now includes
electric versions of the Porsche 911 (964)
Coupe, Targa, Cabriolet, Range Rover Classic,
Land Rover Defender, Land Rover Series,
GT40, and Mercedes-Benz W113 SL Pagoda.
February 2023 58

Automotive
market expanded
6 percent last
year
The combined sales of passenger cars and
light commercial vehicles (LCV) increased
by 6.2 percent in 2022 from the previous
year to more than 780,000.
Passenger car sales grew 5.5 percent
to 593,000, data from the Automotive
Distributors’ and Mobility Association
(ODMD).
The light commercial vehicle market
expanded by 8.6 percent as a total of
191,000 LCVs were sold in Türkiye last year.
In December alone, total vehicle sales
leaped 85 percent from December 2021 to
reach 115,000.
The ODMD reported that passenger sales
rose by 99.2 percent year-on-year last
month to around 87,000, while the LCV
sales grew 55.2 percent to 28,500.
The combined sales of passenger cars and
LCVs last month were, however, 0.8 percent
lower than the 10-year December average.
In December, 1,519 electric vehicles (EVs)
were sold on the local market. Even though
sales soared 252 percent from the same
month of 2021, EV sales accounted for only
1.8 percent of all vehicle sales in Türkiye.
In the whole of 2022, EV sales amounted to
7,7300, showing an increase of 171 percent
from the previous year.
As domestically produced Togg is
preparing to enter the market this year,
electric vehicle sales are expected to rise
to 40,000 in 2023. Hybrid vehicle sales
grew 30 percent last year from 2021 to
64,387, accounting for 11 percent of all
vehicle sales, while in December alone,
sales increased 104 percent year-on-year
to 8,794. The country’s large automotive
industry is optimistic that, despite
challenges, it may increase its export
revenues this year compared to 2022.
The automotive sector aims to generate
$34 billion in exports this year, up from
$31 billion in 2022, said the Automotive
Industry Exporters’ Association (OİB)
earlier. The industry managed to increase
its export revenues by 5.7 percent last
year from 2021, even though it faced
strong headwinds, including the troubles in
Europe’s economy, its main export market,
the chip shortage, elevated inflation, higher
energy costs and the looming recession
risks in the global economy, OİB head Baran
Çelik said.
February 2023 60

‘SK On plans to scrap battery venture in
Türkiye with Ford, Koç’
South Korean electric vehicle battery
maker SK On said it has not decided
whether to pursue a battery cell venture
in Türkiye with Ford Motor Co and Turkish
conglomerate Koç Holding, after signing a
memorandum of understanding (MoU) in
March. The Dong-A Ilbo daily newspaper
earlier reported, citing an unidentified
source, that SK On plans to scrap the
idea due to a weak macro economic
environment.
“After signing the MoU in March 2022, we
have been discussing the joint venture case
in Turkey, but discussions have not been
completed. The final decision whether or
not to halt negotiations regarding the joint
venture has not been made yet,” SK On
said in a statement.
SK On is the wholly owned battery unit of
SK Innovation Co Ltd, and counts Hyundai
Motor Co, Volkswagen AG and Ford Motor
among its customers.
In announcing the joint venture plans in
March, SK On said the partners aimed
for annual production capacity of 30-45
gigawatt hours (GWh) with production
starting in 2025. SK On has battery
manufacturing sites in South Korea, China,
Hungary and the United States.
February 2023 62

Türkiye on its way to become energy hub
The natural gas deal with Bulgaria is a step
forward in Türkiye’s efforts to become an
energy hub, Energy Minister Fatih Dönmez
has said.
“With this agreement, natural gas could be
transmitted not only to Bulgaria but other
countries via Bulgaria,” Dönmez added.
On Jan. 3, Türkiye and Bulgaria signed an
agreement for the transmission of up to 1.5
billion cubic meters of natural gas a year.
The new deal covers a 13-year period.
Dönmez traveled to the Bulgarian capital
Sofia to attend the signing ceremony.
The gas deal was inked between the two
countries by the general managers of
the Turkish Petroleum Pipeline Company
(BOTAŞ) and Bulgargaz.
“The deal means almost 20 billion cubic
meters of gas trade in 13 years. We will also
be able to provide service to all European
countries via Bulgaria,” Dönmez said.
The minister recalled that the natural gas
agreement was signed only three weeks
after President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan met
his Bulgarian counterpart, Rumen Radev, in
Istanbul.
Türkiye has been working over the past
years to position itself as an energy hub,
Dönmez said.
“We have plans to establish a natural gas
trade center. We have largely completed
our physical infrastructure for this initiative.
The deal [with Bulgaria] means that we are
reaping the first fruits of these efforts.”
Dönmez reminded the energy cooperation
between Türkiye and Bulgaria has a long
history. “Türkiye received the first natural
gas via Ukraine, Romania and Bulgaria. This
pipeline has been offline over the past two
years. Now the direction of gas flow will
reverse,” the minister said.
February 2023 66

Turkish business world calls for ‘urgent’ solution amid EU visa row
Asenior Turkish business official called for
a swift solution to the European Union
visa issue, which has triggered public
outcry and prompted Ankara to vow
countermeasures.
Turkish nationals have been complaining
of lengthy processing times and a growing
number of EU visa rejections since last
year, in a row that frustrated Ankara, which
called the efforts “deliberate.”
The issue has reached “serious dimensions”
for the Turkish businesspeople and traders,
said Rifat Hisarcıklıoğlu, chair of the Union
of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of
Türkiye (TOBB).
“The visa issue has recently reached
serious dimensions for the business world,
and transport quotas have also negatively
affected bilateral trade,” Hisarcıklıoğlu told
an event in the Aegean province of Izmir.
“We need to find an urgent solution to the
issues of visa and transport quotas.”
Turkish officials have called for a swift
solution, lower fees, permits for multivisa
entries and “fairer” evaluation
standards for people like academicians and
businesspeople in terms of economic and
educational activities.
Türkiye and the bloc enjoy good trade
ties and decades of migration, however,
relations are strained over multiple
issues, including the prolonged process of
modernization and expansion of the scope
of the current customs union agreement
and EU policies on refugees from Syria.
Before the coronavirus pandemic,
Schengen states received more than
900,000 visa applications annually from
Türkiye, but that figure dropped to around
270,000 in 2021. Citizens from all Schengen
countries are exempt from visas when
visiting Türkiye, most for up to 90 days, and
some can enter with only their ID cards,
according to Türkiye’s Foreign Ministry
website. Hisarcıklıoğlu said they always
consider relations with the EU as a priority.
He stressed that the customs union
deal, a modernization of which would
comprehensively shake up economic
relations between the sides, has been the
most important tool for the transformation
of Türkiye’s production capacity.
The host of disagreements between Ankara
and Brussels over recent years has been
stalling the negotiations for the update of
the agreement. A deeper 1990s-era trade
agreement would be expanded to services,
farm goods and public procurement.
The modernization would bring Türkiye
fully into the internal market of the world’s
largest trading bloc, allowing almost all
goods and services to flow unhindered.
“The accession negotiations have further
expanded and deepened Türkiye’s
transformation process. The accession
process has stalled in recent years. As the
Turkish business world, we are not happy
about this situation. If we take into account
the current problems that our countries
are facing, the need to revive relations is
obvious,” Hisarcıklıoğlu said.
Bilateral trade surged fourfold in the last
quarter century, he noted, stating that the
exchange of goods between Türkiye and
the EU reached about $196 billion as of
2022.
“Companies support the updating of the
customs union. The European Union’s
enterprises also support the cooperation
between the EU and Türkiye on the Green
Deal and the single digital market. There is
a very favorable environment for Türkiye
and the EU to further advance their
economic relations,” Hisarcıklıoğlu noted.
Türkiye is the only non-EU country with
a customs union agreement with the
bloc. The deal was struck in 1995. In its
Dec. 21, 2016 assessment, the European
Commission proposed revamping the deal.
The current customs union agreement
only covers a limited range of industrial
products and excludes agriculture, public
procurement, e-commerce and services.
February 2023 68

Türkiye plant
pitched to build
new Toyota C-HR
plug-in hybrid
Toyota announced its second generation
Toyota C-HR will be manufactured at the
Japanese automaker’s plant in Türkiye,
marking it the first plug-in hybrid passenger
car to be produced in the country.
Available in hybrid and plug-in hybrid
versions, the new Toyota C-HR will be
produced at Toyota Motor Manufacturing
Türkiye (TMMT) in the northwestern
province of Sakarya, the company said.
In addition, TMMT will be Toyota’s first
European plant to start producing plug-in
hybrid vehicles and the first to be equipped
with a battery production line, it noted.
The carmaker said the 100% electrified
powertrain line-up of the new Toyota C-HR
“reflects Toyota’s commitment to offer
appropriate carbon reduction opportunities
to the largest and most competitive market
segment in Europe.”
“In addition to the hybrid version, the new
plug-in hybrid Toyota C-HR with locally
assembled batteries will further expand
Toyota’s multi-technology offer toward its
target of 100% CO2 reduction in its vehicle
line-up in Europe by 2035,” the statement
read.
Alongside the vehicle production line,
TMMT will build a new plug-in battery
assembly line with a capacity of 75,000
units per year within its facility, it said.
Plug-in hybrid battery assembly will start
in December 2023, around 60 new skilled
jobs.
Toyota said the investment for the project
will be around 317 million euros ($345.72
million), bringing the overall cumulative
investment in TMMT to around 2.3 billion
euros.
In the scope of the new model investment,
it said the TMMT will improve and
enhance its production line, whilst laying
down the framework to meet the future
requirements of production diversity and
flexibility.
Toyota says it is committed to achieving
full carbon neutrality in Europe by 2040,
and is targeting carbon neutrality in all its
manufacturing facilities by 2030. TMMT
says it is progressing toward this goal by
introducing technologies that minimize
energy consumption while at the same
time, switching to renewable energy within
the Sakarya plant.
These measures include the introduction
of new paint shop technologies which
minimize CO2 emissions and the use of
solar energy which aims to make the plant
self-sufficient in its energy use.
“In this project, which reveals TMMT’s
high-quality vehicle production experience
and advanced engineering ability, we will
implement our responsibilities with great
dedication. This represents an exciting
step forward for TMMT’s future as it
continues to produce popular attractive
and high quality models,” said Erdoğan
Şahin, president and CEO at Toyota Motor
Manufacturing Türkiye.
“This project once again confirms that our
production facility in Sakarya is a globally
important place for Toyota,” Şahin noted.
“We are proud to announce that TMMT
will produce the second-generation
Toyota C-HR including the first plug-in
hybrid vehicle in Europe. The outstanding
performance and dedication which our
TMMT employees deliver will make this
new model a great success, just like its
predecessor,” said Marvin Cooke, executive
vice president in charge of manufacturing
at Toyota Motor Europe.
“It also marks another important
milestone with the start of our first
battery assembly line in Europe, which
is an important step in our European
electrification plan,” Cooke said.
February 2023 72

Europe ends
bad inflation
year with some
relief but costs
still high
Price gains in Europe eased again in
December, bringing some relief for the
continent that ended a bad year for
inflation. While the cost of living is still
painfully high, the slowdown is a sign
that the worst might be over for weary
consumers.
The consumer price index (CPI) for the 19
countries that used the euro currency rose
9.2% in December from a year earlier, the
slowest pace since August, the European
Union statistics agency Eurostat said.
Croatia joined the eurozone on Jan. 1.
It was the second straight decline in
inflation since June 2021. In November,
the rate dipped to 10.1% after peaking at a
record 10.6% in the previous month.
Households and businesses across Europe
have been plagued by surging energy costs
since Russia launched its war in Ukraine in
February, which played havoc with oil and
natural gas markets and has been the main
driver of inflation.
The latest numbers indicate that the energy
crisis may be easing for now. Energy price
rises slowed to 25.7%, down from 34.9% in
November and 41.5% in October.
Natural gas prices have slipped from
all-time highs this summer as Europe
has largely filled its storage for winter
with supplies from other countries, while
warmer-than-usual weather has reduced
fears of a shortage during the heating
season.
Food price gains, the other significant
factor driving up European inflation, held
pretty steady. Prices for food, alcohol and
tobacco rose at a 13.8% annual pace in
December, slightly higher than the month
before.
Inflation has also been worsened by
bottlenecks in raw materials and parts
supplies amid rebounding global consumer
demand after COVID-19 pandemic
restrictions ended.
“The peak in inflation is likely behind us
now, but far more relevant for the economy
and policymakers is whether inflation will
February 2023 74

structurally trend back to 2% from here
on,” said Bert Colijn, senior eurozone
economist at ING Bank.
So-called core inflation, which excludes
volatile food and energy costs, climbed to
5.2% last month from November’s 5%, as
prices rose for services and goods such as
clothing, appliances, cars and computers.
Colijn and other economists said that
European Central Bank (ECB) officials will
likely roll out more interest rate hikes to get
inflation back to their 2% target.
Soaring costs for energy and food have
threatened a recession and fed labor unrest
as wages fail to keep pace with the price
rises. Across Europe, subway staff, hospital
workers, train drivers, postal workers and
air traffic controllers have gone on strike,
threatening political turmoil.
In a sign that energy costs remain a worry
for political leaders, French President
Emmanuel Macron urged energy suppliers
to renegotiate what he called “abusive
contracts” with small businesses to ensure
“reasonable” price hikes.
Macron spoke to bakers at the presidential
palace for a traditional Epiphany kings cake
ceremony, underscoring how energy and
food prices are intertwined.
“Like you, I’ve had enough people making
excessive profits on the crisis,” he said.
The French government has capped natural
gas and electricity price hikes to 15%
this year for consumers and some tinny
companies that don’t use much energy.
But more energy-intensive businesses,
like bakeries, aren’t covered, leaving some
facing closure because they can’t pay their
bills. While governments have offered
relief on high energy bills, central banks are
battling inflation by hiking interest rates.
Last month, the European Central Bank
raised its benchmark rate by half a point,
slowing its record pace of interest rate
increases slightly but promising that more
hikes are on the way. It matched actions
taken by counterparts in the U.S., United
Kingdom and elsewhere.
“The eurozone economy is at best
stagnating, and persistently strong core
inflation means the ECB will feel duty
bound to press on with its tightening cycle
for a while yet,” said Andrew Kenningham,
chief Europe economist for Capital
Economics.
February
75 2023

Chinese giant
Alibaba to invest
over $1B in
Türkiye
Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba plans
to invest over $1 billion (TL 18.75 billion) in
Türkiye, Alibaba President Michael Evans
said during a visit to Turkuvaz Media Group
in Istanbul.
“There is a great production power in
Türkiye, which is the most advantageous
country in the world in this sense,” he said.
Evans said that there are always volatilities
in economies, and there are opportunities
when one considers the long term.
“We will continue to invest in small- and
medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and
tradesmen in Türkiye.”
He said that they “will carry Türkiye’s
production power and export potential to
Europe and the Middle East.”
He also said many G-20 countries have
consumption power, but there is no
production power.
“Countries with high technology
infrastructure and production power will
come to the fore. Since we see that Türkiye
is very strong in these two areas, it will
definitely be advantageous in the G-20,” he
said.
Evans also commented on the questions
on Türkiye’s largest e-commerce company,
Trendyol, which, backed by Alibaba,
became Türkiye’s first “decacorn.”
Asked whether Alibaba has a stock market
plan in Türkiye with Trendyol, Evans said,
“Going public has both advantages and
disadvantages. I think it is advantageous
to be a public company. But Trendyol
management should decide this.”
“If they want to go public, we will support
them, as Trendyol grows,” he said.
Trendyol Group President Çağlayan Çetin
meanwhile stated that the company has
many investors and that there is no need to
go public and raise capital at the moment.
“We do not have a short-term plan. If we
achieve the growth targets we want in a
short time, it may be in three to five years,”
he explained.
Çetin also said that for the first time,
a Turkish brand is the main sponsor of
the Olympics and that products such as
ready-made clothing and souvenirs to be
sold during the Olympics will be produced
in Türkiye and exported to 100 countries
through Trendyol.
Trendyol, one of Türkiye’s best-known
e-retail platforms, has received foreign
investor backing and holds a leading
position in the country’s fragmented
e-commerce market.
Since 2018, Alibaba has been a strategic
investor in Trendyol, which has been
reported to have been planning a duallisting
initial public offering (IPO) in New
York or London when its income from
foreign sales reaches 30%-35% of its total
revenue.
February 2023 78