President Erdogan reveals plans to become Europe's best in electric vehicle market

President Erdoğan: As Turkey, we are moving towards having a rapidly developing electric vehicle market.

"As Turkey, we are on our way to having a rapidly developing electric vehicle market with the interest triggered by Togg's arrival on the roads."

"The fact that we have risen from 15th to 13th in the world rankings in automotive production in 5 years shows that we are moving in the right direction."

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan attended the opening ceremony of the Ford Otosan Yeniköy Factory in Kocaeli on Saturday and wished that the factory, whose capacity increased from 110 thousand to 405 thousand with investments in special industrial zone status and provided new employment for 3 thousand 500 people, would be beneficial to the group, the city and the economy.

He emphasized that Ford Otosan's Kocaeli factories have now become the largest commercial vehicle production facility in Europe.

"This facility in Yeniköy, which is a reflection of the engineering and production power of the world brand Ford, deserves the title of the factory of the future with its many pioneering features. This facility, which will make a significant contribution to the production and export power of our country, stands out with its ability to produce both internal combustion and electric vehicles."

President Erdoğan said that Ford Otosan, which has increased its total production capacity to 720 thousand with its factories in Gölcük, Eskişehir and Romania, as well as Yeniköy, and pioneered innovations with its research and development center in Sancaktepe, where 2 thousand people work, continues to be the pride of the Turkish automotive industry.

"It is a source of pride for us to see the use of Ford light commercial vehicles and parts produced in Türkiye in 94 different countries of the world. I also congratulate Ford Otosan, which maintained its title as the export champion of the automotive industry by reaching a total export figure of 6.2 billion dollars last year," Erdogan stated.

"The fact that we have risen from 15th to 13th place in the world rankings in automotive production in 5 years shows that we are moving in the right direction. Moreover, we achieved this success despite the successive global crises. Last year, our automotive exports had a foreign trade surplus of over 9 billion dollars."

Erdogan emphasized that, as Türkiye, they are determined to maintain the production and export power they have achieved by rapidly adapting to the technological changes in the automotive production market.

"We attach special importance to investments that will enable us to have a say in the exponentially growing production of electric and hybrid vehicles. The interest in electric vehicles is increasing in our country, as well as all over the world," he said.

"As Türkiye, we are on our way to having a rapidly developing electric vehicle market, with the interest triggered by Togg's (the manufacturer of Türkiye's first electric car) arrival on the roads. Our goal is to make our country one of the world's leading players in electric vehicle and battery production."

"As a country that has already reached a production capacity of 70 gigabytes per hour in electric vehicle batteries, we are determined to become the battery production center of Europe by 2030 at the latest."