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.
“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.
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.”
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).
