Electric vehicles to take off from Turkey to the world

Turkey is set to become the electrical vehicle base for automotive giants. After France’s Renault designated Bursa as a base for electrical vehicle production, America’s Ford Motor Company has selected Gölcük as the location for the manufacturing of the company’s first electric vehicle.

Turkey is soon to become the base for electric vehicle manufacturing by international automotive giants. Bursa will be a site for electric vehicle production for France’s Renault, while America’s Ford has selected Gölcük as the location for their initiation into electric vehicle manufacturing. The Transit Connect, manufactured in Ford Otosan’s Gölcük factory will be the Ford Motor Company’s first-ever electric vehicle. The vehicle will be exported to the US from Turkey, where they will be fitted with electric-operated motors. The first electric Transit Connects are expected to go on sale towards the end of the year. The target is to sell one thousand electric Ford Transit Connect vehicles annually. The sales price of the vehicle is anticipated to be at approximately 60,000 dollars. Following the Transit Connect, Ford is anticipating to produce four other electric vehicles as well as a hybrid for sale. The next electric vehicle Ford anticipates to embark upon following the Transit Connect will be the Focus Sedan. In addition, in 2012 Ford plans to present two morel hybrid models for sale. 

RENAULT DESIGNATES TURKEY AS A BASE
France’s Renault is planning to manufacture four electric vehicle models. The first electric vehicle Renault plans to present on the market is the Fluence, which will be manufactured in the Oyak Renault Factory in Bursa. Renault’s other electric vehicles, the Zoe and Kangoo will be produced in France and the Twizy in Spain. Renault's General Manager of Operations Patrick Pelata announced during a meeting that the electric Fluence would be produced in Bursa and stated that the Oyak Renault Bursa facilities would play a significant role in realizing Renaults’s electrical vehicle sales objectives. Oyak Renault will export 100,000 Electric Fluence vehicles to Israel and Denmark over the next five years. According to the previously established sales agreement, Oyak Renault has already guaranteed exports worth one billion Euros in electric vehicles. At present, production will be at 20,000 vehicles annually, however upon demand, the facilities will be able to exceed up to producing 30,000 units. 

Renault and Ford are not the only ones planning to produce electric vehicles in Turkey. In addition to plans to produce an electrical vehicle by Turkish designer Murat Günak and futurist Alphan Manas, Boyner Industry also has plans for production. With 56 years of experience in the textile sector, the company has joined forces with American billionaire Warren Buffet’s Chinese BYD company of which he holds ten percent stock and have signed on to produce an electric vehicle. According to the agreement signed between Boyner Industry and the Chinese BYD, as of 2012, they will begin to produce electric vehicles in Turkey they then plan to sell in Europe.