Talking Turkey: TOGG Unveils First Prototype Vehicles
Turkey’s plan to convert the defunct Saab 9-3 into its national car is one of those stories that reemerges every few years, often undertaking a cicada-like metamorphosis in the interim. When we last checked on the $3.7 billion car project, Turkey was in the midst converting the 9-3 into an EV prototype wearing the shell of a Cadillac BLS.
The formula appears to have changed substantially since then. TOGG (short for Türkiye’nin Otomobili Girişim Grubu) is new, founded in 2018, but the company is comprised of the same five firms that made up the original group angling to deliver Turkey’s national car — Anadolu Group, BMC, Kıraça Holding, Turkcell, and Zorlu Holding. Ties to Saab (now owned by
Unlike past previews, the new prototypes actually appear to foreshadow production-ready models. Both are handsome automobiles, albeit stylistically derivative of other high-end European products, with the SUV looking like something coming off a German assembly line and the sedan giving off more of a Chinese/Volvo vibe.
Details are scant but TOGG has said the SUV will be the first of five vehicles it plans on manufacturing within Turkey — starting in 2022. A factory site has been selected in Bursa, with the joint venture estimating an annual output of 175,000 EVs annually. Introductory vehicles will come with a choice of two lithium-ion battery packs. The smaller of the two is said to provide roughly 185 miles of range, with the bigger hitting a smidgen over 300 — presumably using European metrics. Rear-drive will be standard, with 200 horsepower on tap. A dual-motor, all-wheel-drive setup is said to double output to 400 hp.
The names are probably subject to change, but TOGG is currently working with vanilla monikers like C-SUV and C-Sedan. Those titles, sounding like placeholders, have been thrown around since the company started teasing images of the models on its social media accounts. Ditto for the interiors. While the cabin looks like it could carry over into production, its myriad of screens seem overly ambitious for a model intended to be sold within a country with a fairly modest median income. Right now TOGG has only said it plans on selling vehicles within Turkey with ambitions to expand deeper into Europe.
According to Automotive News, the overall project is expected to contribute $50 billion (USD) to the Turkish economy in the 15 years following 2022.
From Automotive News:
TOGG will benefit from comprehensive tax cuts, free land allocation, interest rate reductions and a government purchase guarantee of 30,000 vehicles until the end of 2035, according to the decree.
Investors are obliged to provide at least 3.5 billion lira in cash as capital by the end of 2023.
[President Recep Tayyip] Erdogan first urged Turkish companies to join forces to manufacture a domestic vehicle nine years ago, saying in January 2011 that he was “looking for a brave fellow, an investor for a domestic car.”
“We’re all together witnessing Turkey’s 60-year-old dream become reality,” he said, referring to failed plans in the past to build a fully home-produced car. “When we see this car on roads around the whole world, we will have reached our goal.”
Yeni Lige yolculuğum başladı…
— Türkiye’nin Otomobili (@TOGG2022) December 27, 2019
[Image: TOGG]
A staunch consumer advocate tracking industry trends and regulation. Before joining TTAC, Matt spent a decade working for marketing and research firms based in NYC. Clients included several of the world’s largest automakers, global tire brands, and aftermarket part suppliers. Dissatisfied with the corporate world and resentful of having to wear suits everyday, he pivoted to writing about cars. Since then, that man has become an ardent supporter of the right-to-repair movement, been interviewed on the auto industry by national radio broadcasts, driven more rental cars than anyone ever should, participated in amateur rallying events, and received the requisite minimum training as sanctioned by the SCCA. Handy with a wrench, Matt grew up surrounded by Detroit auto workers and managed to get a pizza delivery job before he was legally eligible. He later found himself driving box trucks through Manhattan, guaranteeing future sympathy for actual truckers. He continues to conduct research pertaining to the automotive sector as an independent contractor and has since moved back to his native Michigan, closer to where the cars are born. A contrarian, Matt claims to prefer understeer — stating that front and all-wheel drive vehicles cater best to his driving style.
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I wonder what the start-up screen inside will look like...maybe a video of Erdogan's thugs beating American demonstrators on US soil while protesting his authoritarian rule. All while our administration chuckles about it. Too bad our Secret Service didn't execute Erdogan's thugs on the spot.
Ashtrays are standard equipment.