Togg, acronym of Türkiye'nin Otomobili Girişim Grubu (lit.'Turkey's Automobile Joint Venture Group'), is a Turkish automotive manufacturer of electric cars headquartered in Gebze, Kocaeli Province, Turkey. The company was founded as a joint venture by five Turkish companies in 2018. An assembly plant was opened in 2022 in Gemlik, Bursa province, next to Togg’s subsidiary Siro which produces the lithium-ion batteries. Sales of the first vehicle, the Togg T10X, started in March 2023. As of October 2024 , Togg T10X is the 3rd most sold car in Turkey.[1]

Togg
Company typeJoint Stock Company
IndustryAutomotive, mobility ecosystem
Founded25 June 2018; 6 years ago (2018-06-25)
Headquarters,
Area served
Europe, Middle East, South Caucasus, Central Asia
Key people
  • Mehmet Gürcan Karakaş (CEO)
  • Sergio Rocha (COO)
ProductsElectric car
Owner
Number of employees
1,475 (2023)
Subsidiaries
  • Trugo
  • Siro (50%)
Websitewww.togg.com.tr

History

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Togg is the first major national manufacturer of electric cars in Turkey, supported by the Turkish government.[2] However, it is not the first Turkish automobile to have been designed and produced. The Devrim was the first Turkish car, of which four prototypes were built in Eskişehir in 1961. TOGG is the result of the association of five Turkish companies in a consortium, supported by the government and the Union of Chambers and Stock Exchange of Turkey (TOBB), to design and market 100% electric Turkish automobiles as well as to develop a new transformational mobility ecosystem with Turkish intellectual and industrial property.[3][4]

 
2022 Togg T10X[5] produced by Togg,[6] a Turkish automotive company established in 2018 for producing EVs,[7][8][5] on display at Zorlu Center in Istanbul.

The companies and organizations that decided to work together to produce electric vehicles in Turkey were announced by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in November 2017. For this purpose, Turkey's Automobile Joint Venture Group (Togg) was launched on June 25, 2018, by Anadolu Group (19%), BMC (19%), Kök Group (19%), Turkcell (19%), Zorlu Holding (19%) and TOBB (5%). In September 2019, it was claimed that Kök Group would withdraw from the project. In October 2019, the company headquarters moved from Şişli, Istanbul, to Gebze, Kocaeli. The CEO of the company, Gürcan Karakaş, announced that the design of the SUV and sedan models will be completed in 2019, and they will go on sale in 2022. The SUV and sedan models of Togg were introduced at a press conference held on December 27, 2019. The body design work of Togg's SUV and sedan models were done by Turkish designer Murat Günak and Pininfarina.[7][9][10]

In 2021, Anadolu Group, Turkcell, and Vestel (part of Zorlu Holding) invested more money to increase the total capital from 150 million to almost ₺1 billion, and their share to about 23% each,[11] while those of BMC (Turkey) and TOBB increased to 23% and 8% respectively.[12]

Togg established a factory in Gemlik, Bursa for the production of electric cars with a cost of ₺22 billion. It was announced that project-based state aid would be given for the factory. Construction of the factory started on May 21, 2020. In August 2020, it was decided that the company would manufacture under the Togg brand. On December 18, 2021, Togg's new logo was introduced. Togg's international debut took place at the CES 2022 event in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA, on January 5, 2022.[9][13][14]

Models

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Togg T10X in Ankara

Togg plans to produce 5 different models by 2030. Also, the manufacturer aims to export one million vehicles to European countries by the end of the decade.[15]

Name Type Announcement Unveiling Production Motor Image
Togg T10X C-segment SUV 2019 December 29, 2019 October 29, 2022 Electric  
Togg T10F Fastback Sedan 2019 December

29, 2019

2025 Electric  
Togg

T8CX

C-segment Xcoupe 2022 October

29, 2022

After

2026

Electric
Togg

T8X

B-segment SUV TBA TBA Until

2030

Electric
Togg

10V

C-segment MPV TBA TBA Until

2030

Electric

T10X

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The young manufacturer's first model is a 100% electric SUV whose design was designed by Turkish automotive designer Murat Günak and the Pininfarina firm.[16] The design of the T10X incorporates several elements of Turkish culture, notably the rims and the tulip-shaped grille. Additionally, the stitching lines on the T10X seats also represent a tulip.[17] The concept name of this SUV was the C-SUV, and was later named T10X when the vehicle was released.

Togg launches mass production of its all-electric SUV in October 2022,[18] with a choice of two-wheel drive (RWD) and a 160 kW (218 hp) motor placed on the rear axle or all-wheel drive (AWD) with a second additional engine positioned at the front[19] for a total of 320 kW (430 hp) and 700 N m of torque. Acceleration is 7.6s and 4.8s respectively to go from 0 to 100 km/h.[20] Two Li-ion batteries are available offering a range of 314 km or 523 km depending on the capacity chosen.[21]

Inside, the T10X offers an ultra-modern ambiance with 12-inch digital instrumentation and a central touch screen resting on a 29-inch panel that covers the entire width of the dashboard. On the prototype model, then called C-SUV, two small screens were placed at the ends to transmit images from the camera mirrors.

T10F

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T10F launch

The T10F fastback sedan was unveiled at the 2024 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas. This is the second model from the Turkish car manufacturer.[22]

Production plant

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Interior of the Togg T10X
 
Togg T10X in Anadolu red during a presentation in Baku, Azerbaijan
 
Togg's previous logo (2018–2021)
 
Togg's logo (2021–present)

Gemlik district of Bursa Province was chosen as the production plant site. It is part of 400 ha (990 acres) of land owned by the Turkish Armed Forces. The site was preferred for its proximity to a seaport, a free-trade zone and to suppliers. The construction cost of the production plant is budgeted at 22 billion (approx. US$1.2 billion). Employment of 4,323 people is planned at the production plant.[23] Annual production of 175,000 electric vehicles is planned,[24] but that may not be enough to avoid the risk to the economy of Turkey of increasing oil imports until 2040.[25] For the first stage, it is planned that 100 cars will be produced for the first time within the Togg production plan.

Suppliers

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Commercial scale lithium production as a side product of boron is planned for 2022.[26] Togg has also entered into a joint venture with the Chinese battery company Farasis to manufacture lithium batteries for the car: the new 50/50 venture is called Siro, and will be built near Ankara.[27]

Economics

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In June 2022, less than 1% of the cars sold in Turkey were electric.[28] As of July 2022 the special consumption tax(Turkish) – a sales tax on luxuries – at the start of Togg's sales in March 2023 has been proposed to be:

  • Up to 160 kW motor and price before tax under ₺700,000 - 10%
  • Up to 160 kW motor and price before tax over ₺700,000 - 45%
  • Over 160 kW motor and price before tax under ₺750,000 - 50%
  • Over 160 kW motor and price before tax over ₺750,000 - 60%

There is also an 20% value added tax.[29]

Lawsuit

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In June 2021, Togg filed a complaint in order to obtain the domain name “togg.com”, which was previously purchased by someone else, and brought the issue to the World Intellectual Property Organization.[30] Togg, in their complaint, stated that the company was founded in 2018 to produce cars and the plaintiff does not have a factory yet but it unveiled plans for two electric vehicles in December 2019. In response, the defense said that the domain was bought in 2003 by a computer engineer named George Gould for the company named "The Office of George Gould", who sold his company and naming rights to another company in 2010,[31] and the domain is already redirected to the website of another company (tcbinc.com) which is the current owner of the disputed "togg.com" and provides computer infrastructure services.[32][33][34]

In September 2021, the complaint of Togg was rejected and ruled in favor of the domain registrant and found that the complaint was brought in bad faith (Reverse Domain Name Hijacking).[35][36][37] In the judgment, it was also stated that Togg was right in its complaint about name similarity, but it was concluded that the defendant bought the domain name in 2014, 4 years before Togg was founded, and therefore it was not possible to have bad intentions.[38][39][40]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Turkey - Flash report, Automotive sales volume, 2024 - MarkLines Automotive Industry Portal".
  2. ^ Dan Mihalascu (4 November 2022). "Turkey's National Carmaker Togg Starts Production Of 2023 C SUV EV". insideevs.com.
  3. ^ "Togg". www.togg.com.tr. Retrieved 2023-03-31.
  4. ^ "Le Courrier du Sud | Turquie: Togg lance le T10X, son premier modèle de série". Le Courrier du Sud (in French). Retrieved 2023-03-31.
  5. ^ a b Dan Mihalascu (4 November 2022). "Turkey's National Carmaker Togg Starts Production Of 2023 C SUV EV". insideevs.com.
  6. ^ "Togg Official Website". togg.com.tr. Retrieved 3 April 2020.
  7. ^ a b Jay Ramey (30 December 2019). "Turkey Bets on EVs with the Pininfarina-Designed Togg". autoweek.com.
  8. ^ "'A game changer': Türkiye inaugurates its first national car plant". TRT World. 30 October 2022.
  9. ^ a b "Turkey's Togg makes int'l debut with all-electric 'smart' car at CES". dailysabah.com. Daily Sabah. 6 January 2022.
  10. ^ Grundhoff, Stefan (13 April 2022). "Togg wants to turn electric cars into smart devices". Automotive Manufacturing Solutions. Retrieved 20 June 2022.
  11. ^ "Togg'un ortaklık yapısında değişim!". hthayat.haberturk.com (in Turkish). 2021-06-03. Retrieved 2022-08-05.
  12. ^ "Yerli Otomobil Togg ve Ortak Şirketler - Uzman Görüşü". GCM Yatırım (in Turkish). Retrieved 2022-11-08.
  13. ^ "Turkey's domestically-produced car Togg makes international debut at Las Vegas fair". anews.com.tr. 6 January 2022.
  14. ^ "Turkiye's Togg showcases all-electric 'smart' car in Las Vegas event". trtworld.com. TRT World. 6 January 2022.
  15. ^ Bourgeois, Christophe (2023-03-31). "Togg, une nouvelle marque turque". Journal Auto (in French). Retrieved 2023-03-31.
  16. ^ Grundhoff, Stefan. "Togg wants to turn electric cars into smart devices". Automotive Manufacturing Solutions. Retrieved 2023-03-15.
  17. ^ Togg T10X Katalog (PDF) (in Turkish), Gebze, Turquie: Togg, 14 March 2023, p. 27, retrieved 15 March 2023
  18. ^ Sabah, Daily (2022-09-25). "Electrified, hybrid cars grab larger share in Türkiye as total sales fall". Daily Sabah. Retrieved 2022-09-26.
  19. ^ Gautier Bottet (27 December 2019). "Togg, la voiture nationale turque est électrique". www.leblogauto.com. Retrieved 30 December 2019.
  20. ^ "Price set for Türkiye's first domestically-produced electric car Togg T10X". Price set for Türkiye's first domestically-produced electric car Togg T10X. Retrieved 2023-03-15.
  21. ^ "Togg T10X: un SUV électrique venu de Turquie bientôt sur les routes européennes". www.lesnumeriques.com (in French). 15 March 2023. Retrieved 2023-03-15.
  22. ^ "Cette alléchante berline électrique est… Turque !". VROOM.be (in French). Retrieved 2024-01-10.
  23. ^ "Yerli otomobil Gemlik'te üretilecek". Hürriyet (in Turkish). 27 December 2019. Retrieved 28 December 2019.
  24. ^ "CEO of Togg: "1st Turkish car's battery to be made indigenously"". Automotive Exports (in Turkish). 2021-03-21. Retrieved 2021-04-09.
  25. ^ "Turkey Energy Outlook" (PDF).
  26. ^ "Turkey's boron sales reach record $1 billion in 2021". www.aa.com.tr. Retrieved 2022-08-01.
  27. ^ Kloosterman, Karin (2022-05-22). "Turkey's all electric Togg EV - Green Prophet". Retrieved 2022-07-09.
  28. ^ "Automotive market expands in June". Hürriyet Daily News. 6 July 2022. Retrieved 2022-07-09.
  29. ^ "Turkey - Corporate - Other taxes". taxsummaries.pwc.com. Retrieved 2022-07-09.
  30. ^ "2021 - Harsh Statements About TOGG Suing 'togg.com'". News Text Area (in Turkish). 2021-09-16. Retrieved 2021-09-20.
  31. ^ "TOGG internet alan adı için açtığı davayı kaybetti". euronews (in Turkish). 2021-09-16. Retrieved 2021-09-20.
  32. ^ "TOGG'un 'alan' başvurusu reddedildi". hthayat.haberturk.com (in Turkish). 16 September 2021. Retrieved 2021-09-20.
  33. ^ "WIPO Domain Name Decision: D2021-1949". www.wipo.int. Retrieved 2021-09-20.
  34. ^ leventelmastas (2021-09-17). "Domestic Automobile TOGG Lost Its Case for Internet Domain Name in the USA". RayHaber | RaillyNews. Retrieved 2021-09-20.
  35. ^ "Mahkemeden TOGG hakkında karar". www.cumhuriyet.com.tr (in Turkish). 16 September 2021. Retrieved 2021-09-20.
  36. ^ archynewsy (2021-09-18). "Domestic car TOGG lost the international case". Archynewsy. Retrieved 2021-09-20.
  37. ^ "'togg.com' İçin Dava Açan TOGG Hakkında Sert İfadeler: Hiçbir Şey Üretmiyor, Satmıyor ve Müşterisi Yok". Webtekno (in Turkish). Retrieved 2021-09-20.
  38. ^ Silver, Elliot (2021-09-15). "RDNH Finding in TOGG.com UDRP". DomainInvesting.com. Retrieved 2021-09-20.
  39. ^ Today, Newsy (2021-09-18). "Domestic car TOGG lost the international case". Newsy Today. Retrieved 2021-09-20.
  40. ^ "TOGG found unfair in the lawsuit filed for the domain name "togg.com"". ESIZNEWS. 2021-09-16. Retrieved 2021-09-20.
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