Turkish government is in negotiations with the Chinese car manufacturer Chery, which includes brands such as Omoda, to build a car manufacturing plant in the province of Samsun, on the northern coast of Turkey, according to the Turkish Minister of Industry and Technology, Mehmet Fatih Kacır.
According to Turkish media reports, and after Turkish President Tayyip Erdoğan himself recently announced that a Chinese manufacturer of electric cars – without naming the company – was planning investments in Turkey, during an interview with CNN Türk on Saturday by the Minister of Industry and Technology Kacır confirmed that representatives of the Turkish government are already in contact with the company Chery for a major investment in the province of Samsun.
‘We expect that the capacity (of this plant) will be at least similar to that of BYD (planned in Turkey). In terms of the size of the investment, it is also similar to BYD’s,’ the minister announced, referring to BYD’s plans, unveiled in July last year, to invest $1 billion in an electric car manufacturing plant and an R&D centre in Turkey, to be located in Manisa and with a production capacity of 150,000 vehicles per year.
‘We will continue to strongly support anyone who wants to invest in Turkey. We are going to prioritise investments to produce new generation vehicles,’ Kacır emphasised, indicating that in addition to BYD and Chery, negotiations have also been held with MG and Zeeker. With regard to the Turkish vehicle manufacturer TOGG, the minister said that the Turkish company will begin sales of its new T10F sedan model in June or July this year and that it plans to increase its annual production to 60,000 vehicles: ‘There are already 52,000 TOGG cars on the road.’
As a history lover, Pablo Gómez was captivated by Turkey from the first day he visited it in 2006: he got married there, has a house there… and has since become an expert on Turkey’s current affairs. With a long experience in media, he has been at the helm of hispanatolia.com since 2011.
