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Turkey unveils prototypes of 1st domestic car by realizing a long-waited dream
T
hink of a dream that turns into reality 60 years later. A dream for which a team of dedicated engineers worked hard in 1961. Alas, it was not realized but its story became very famous in Turkey with a movie shot in 2008. Producing a fully homegrown car was a long-waited dream for Turkey. After 60 years, Turkey now introduced a preview version of its firstto-be-domestic car models which will be also fully electric. Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called in 2011 for investors to manufacture Turkey’s first indigenous car, following the appetite of the 1960s. Upon his call, in June 2018, five Turkish industry giants including Anadolu Group, BMC, Kok Group, Turkcell and Zorlu Holding and an umbrella organization, the Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey (TOBB) agreed to create Turkey’s Automobile Initiative Group (TOGG) in a bid to produce the country’s first domestic car. TOGG was on the scene unveiling the preview version of the C-SUV models of first fully homemade car project expected to create an investment of cost 22 billion Turkish lira ($3.7 billion) aiming to produce 175,000 electric cars annually. 18 Turkish British Magazine I January - February 2020
