Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on November 2 unveiled plans to produce the country’s first domestically made car by 2021.
Turkish conglomerate Anadolu Group, carmaker BMC, Kiraca Holding, Turkey’s largest GSM operator Turkcell and Zorlu Holding have teamed up for the project.
Erdogan said he expected the prototype of the first domestically-produced car to be ready in 2019 and for sales to start in 2021, Hurriyet Daily News reported.
“I want to own the first such automobile and I will pay for it,” he said.
Erdogan first floated the idea of producing cars locally in 2011 and has been urging local companies to work on this matter ever since.
Turkey’s is one Europe’s largest carmakers. It produced more than 950,000 passenger cars last year, a 20% increase from the previous year, according to data from the Automotive Manufacturers’ Association (OSD).
“This is a good intention but there is a long way ahead,” Cemal Demirtas, head of research at Ata Invest, told Reuters on November 2.
“This group is not an experienced group in automotives. Can this group produce it? How will they cooperate? The competition is fierce in the sector and abroad,” he added.
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