Turkish joint venture TOGG have revealed their first prototype EVs

Turkey may not be known for it’s car industry, but that could be about to change. Meet TOGG, short for Türkiye’nin Otomobili Girişim Grubu, a joint venture between multiple Turkish firms that aims to take the automotive world by storm.

TOGG’s first vehicle will be a C-SUV (above, top photo) likely followed by a mid-sized sedan (above, bottom). The company aims to make 5 vehicles on the same uniquely designed platform, with the C-SUV set to arrive first in 2022.

The C-SUV will be available in two different variants, with the entry level RWD version boasting a 186 mile (300km) range and 200bhp and the top-spec AWD version a 300 mile (482km) range and 400bhp. 0-60 mph takes 7.6 seconds and 4.8 seconds respectively. Level 2 autonomy will also be available, as well as OTA updates.

Things look extremely promising at the moment for TOGG, with both of their Pininfarina-designed vehicles being well received yesterday. They aim to manufacturer their cars in Turkey’s North-Western province of Bursa, with a factory that will employ 4,300 people scheduled to be completed in 2021.

We’ve seen companies from nations not in the car industry previously succeed, although usually with the backing of larger foreign automakers (i.e. Czech-based Škoda who now dominate sales in Europe with the help of German giant’s VW). How do you think TOGG will fair? Initially they’ll only sell in Turkey but obviously if they want to scale up mainland Europe should be their real target, and who knows, maybe they’ll even make it to the US one day…