Turkey, seen as having the best chance to host the new factory of German carmaker Volkswagen, has been the investment base of the automotive industry over the last five years. While the number of incentive certificates granted to the automotive sector in the last five years has reached 715, TL 28 billion has been provided for investments in this period.
Industry and Technology Minister Mustafa Varank said Turkey's first aluminum injection factory, which was founded in the northwestern province of Bursa for new generation hybrid vehicles within the scope of the government's project-based incentive system, will help cut Turkey's current account gap by $2.3 billion a year.
While the domestic car is expected to be on the roads in 2021, the government has prepared a support program to promote the production of high-tech brand vehicles. New steps will be taken under many headings, from special incentives for domestic electric buses to infrastructure suitable for new generation vehicles.
Speaking of the developments in the automotive sector and the domestic automobile project, Varank said the automotive industry produces over 1.5 million units annually.
"Our country has an attractive incentive system for automotive investments," he said. "Automotive, one of the leading sectors of the industry with its export volume, ranks first in the manufacturing industry. The vehicles manufactured in Turkey stand out with their technical features, performances, design, and quality. We support 150 R&D [research and development] design centers in this regard."
The minister also pointed to the 28,000 jobs created with the investment incentive certificates given to the sector in five years, highlighting the continuous communication with the automotive sector through the works carried out by the Technical Committee on Motor Vehicles. "Some 335 pieces of legislation have been published within the scope of legislative harmonization studies, and work on publishing 1,400 pages of legislation is underway," he continued.
Varank further stated that the five major industrialists that make up Turkey's Automobile Joint Venture Group (TOGG) continue to work intensively on the country's first domestically manufactured automobile.
Accordingly, the incentive mechanism for the domestic brand automobile project will be developed. Branding will be encouraged with the domestic brand vehicle project aimed at the needs of both domestic and foreign markets. With the automotive support program, technology and production capability will be developed in fields such as batteries, sensors, fuel cells and software. Battery investments will be made for electric automotive production. The creation of an industrial cloud platform for the automotive sector will be supported. The industrial cloud platform, which will be offered to companies as a digital infrastructure and service center, will be established for the automotive sector in the first stage. A support program for research on technological development, marketing, and branding will be implemented. The international market share will be increased by developing high-tech domestic brand vehicle production and a highly competitive supply industry.
To maintain the competitiveness of the automotive industry, new steps will be taken by considering global developments, new technologies and changing customer expectations. In this context, critical technologies, such as environmental technologies, connected and autonomous vehicles, and smart mobility, will be developed. A suitable infrastructure will be created for the new generation vehicles. Legislation on the collection, use and conversion of data from new-generation vehicles to value-added services will be completed.
*Hazal Ateş
