AUTOMOTIVE

As part of its commitment to transforming its automotive industry, which has historically been a key economic driver in integrating the Turkish economy with the global value chain, and to its vision of making Türkiye an economic powerhouse, Türkiye has introduced its own locally-developed born-electric car built upon strength stemming from the country’s long-standing know-how in the area.

Accordingly, Türkiye’s Automobile Joint Venture Group, known as Togg, will produce five different models on a joint platform with fully-owned intellectual and industrial property rights by 2030. The first SUV model of Togg has been rolled out in April 2023.

• Leveraging a competitive and highly-skilled workforce combined with a dynamic local market and favorable geographical location, the vehicle production of 8 global, and 5 local OEMs in Türkiye has increased by almost five times from 300,000s in 2002 to over 1.4 million units in 2023. This represents a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of around 7 percent during that period.
• Significant growth posted by Türkiye’s automotive sector led to the country’s becoming the 12th largest automotive manufacturer in the world and 3rd largest in Europe by the end of 2023.
• Türkiye has already become a center of excellence, particularly concerning the production of commercial vehicles. By the end of 2023, Türkiye was the number one producer of commercial vehicles (CVs) in Europe.
• Proven as a production hub of excellence, the Turkish automotive industry is now aiming at improving its R&D, design, and branding capabilities. As of 2023, 162 R&D and design centers belonging to automotive manufacturers and suppliers are operational in Türkiye.
• Notable examples of global brands with product development, design, and engineering activities in Türkiye include Ford, Fiat, Daimler, AVL, and FEV. Ford Otosan’s R&D center is one of Ford’s three largest global R&D centers, while Fiat’s R&D center in Bursa is the Italian company’s only center serving the European market outside its home country. Meanwhile, Daimler’s R&D center in Istanbul complements the German company’s truck and bus manufacturing operations in Türkiye. AVL Türkiye, which opened up its 2nd R&D center in Türkiye, develops autonomous and hybrid vehicle technologies.
• Türkiye offers a supportive environment on the supply chain side. Around 1,100 component suppliers are supporting the production of OEMs. With the parts going directly to the production lines of vehicle manufacturers, the localization rate of OEMs varies between 50 and 70 percent.
• Auto manufacturers increasingly choose Türkiye as a production base for their export sales. This is evidenced by the fact that around 70 percent of vehicle production in Türkiye was destined for international markets in 2023. Türkiye exported more than 1 million vehicles to international markets in the same year. In addition, Türkiye is the second bigger vehicle exporter to European markets after UK in 2023
• Türkiye is home to many global suppliers. There are more than 250 global suppliers that use Türkiye as a production base, with 30 of them ranking among the 100 largest global suppliers.