Turkish president test-drives country’s first home-grown car

ANKARA

Türkiye’s president on Saturday took the latest prototype of the TOGG, the country’s first indigenously developed car, out for a test drive.

“We’re hopefully going to hold the official opening of TOGG’s Gemlik Factory on Oct. 29,” Recep Tayyip Erdogan said at the event in the northwestern province of Kocaeli, adding that the ceremony would also mark the completion of the brand’s first mass-produced vehicle.

Noting that TOGG would be on the roads in Türkiye in the first quarter of 2023, Erdogan said: “We’ll put Türkiye’s automobile at the service of our nation and the world, despite those who say: ‘You can’t do it, you can’t produce it, you can’t sell it, even if you do produce it.'”

Established in 2018, Türkiye’s Automobile Joint Venture Group (TOGG) introduced the country’s first electric vehicle prototype in December 2019.

TOGG aims to produce 1 million vehicles in five different segments by 2030.

• Recap Tayyaip Erdogan
• TOGG
• Turkiye