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Turkey’s progress in production of a new domestic car based on Saab 9-3 platform

Turkish EV test car based on Saab 9-3Turkish EV test car based on Saab 9-3

Turkey is making progress on its plans produce its own domestic car model based on Saab 9-3 Platform and targets annual output of 1.5 million vehicles, Industry Minister Faruk Ozlu told Reuters on Friday.

The automotive sector is important to Turkey, with production rising 16 percent to a record 1.359 million vehicles last year, but the vehicles are made by foreign companies, some in joint ventures with Turkish companies.

Electric engine comeprtment in Turkeys Saab based EV
Electric engine compartment in Turkey Saab based EV

We want a global auto brand, not a domestic car,” Ozlu said in the capital Ankara.

The Scientific and Technical Research Council of Turkey (TÜBİTAK) has been working on a domestic automobile based on the Saab 9-3 Platform, acquiring a license from carmaker NEVS worth 40 million euros for production of the vehicle.

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Interior of Turkish test EV car based on Saab 9-3 platform
Interior of Turkish test EV car based on Saab 9-3 platform

Özlü said Turkey’s current infrastructure is efficient enough to design and produce a vehicle, but the main point is how to introduce and market it. “We are working on the issue of domestic car business model. The business model is very important.

Detail from EV the instrument table
Detail from EV the instrument table

Also, he added – By the end of the year, Turkey will have a 30-40 test cars based on Saab platform (Epsilon I Sweden platform or Phoenix 1.x).

Turkish ex-minister standing next to Epsilon platform
Turkish ex-minister standing next to Epsilon platform

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Goran Aničić
the authorGoran Aničić
For over 15 years, Goran Aničić has been passionately focused on Saab automobiles and everything related to them. His initial encounter with Saab cars took place back in 2003 when the first Saab 9-3 and sedan version were introduced. At that moment, he was captivated by the car's Scandinavian design logic and top-notch engineering, and everything that followed stemmed from that first encounter. Later on, through his work at the editorial team of the Serbian automotive magazines "Autostart" and later "AutoBild," he had the opportunity to engage more closely with Saab vehicles. In 2008, he tested the latest Saab cars of that time, such as the Saab 9-3 TTiD Aero and Saab 9-3 Turbo X. In 2010, as the sole blogger from the region, he participated in the Saab 9-5ng presentation in Trollhättan, Sweden. Alongside journalists from around the world, he got a firsthand experience of the pinnacle of technological offerings from Saab at that time. Currently, Goran owns two Saabs: a 2008 Saab 9-3 Vector Sportcombi with a manual transmission, and a Saab 9-3 Aero Griffin Sport Sedan from the last generation, which rolled off the production line in Trollhättan in December 2011.

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