Renault to begin producing electric car in Turkey
Posted by meb at September 17th, 2009
Turkish Industry and Trade Minister Nihat Ergün has said Tuesday that French car maker Renault would start producing its Fluence brand in Turkey in 2010.
Speaking to reporters at the 63rd Frankfurt Auto Show, which kicked off on Tuesday, Ergün said in 2011 Renault would begin production of the electric version of this car, noting that this would be a major landmark for the Turkish auto sector.
Commenting on the electric version of the Fluence, Foreign Trade Minister Zafer Çağlayan, who also attended the auto show, said this would make Turkey a base for electric car production and investment. The two ministers evaluated the latest developments in the Turkish auto sector for members of the press.
Ergün said they aimed at increasing Turkey’s auto production to somewhere between 1.5 to 2 million cars annually, noting that Turkey was emerging as one of the most competitive countries in the world automotive sector. “We have set our target to turn Turkey into a high technology products manufacturing hub in its region, from Europe to the Middle East and Central Asia.” The minister said the government placed heavy emphasis on using better technology than Turkey’s current industrial manufacturing standards and had accelerated efforts to encourage more companies to commence research and development (R&D) studies to this end. “In Turkey some 56 firms have their own R&D centers, and eight of these belong to the automotive industry, while around 12,000 staff members work at these centers. We have a long way to go since Turkey still cannot utilize high technology in our industry at the desired level,” he said.
Ergün said the government followed the latest developments in the automotive industry closely and that his and Çağlayan’s presence at the auto show was a clear indicator of such a fact. Referring to the tax cuts on automotive sales which are due to end in late September, Ergün said they helped boost auto sales in the domestic market. He said they were assessing the contribution of the tax cuts to auto sales, hinting that they might extend the incentive for a few more months. “As of the end of September we will make a new decision. We will decide whether or not to extend the tax cuts and at which rates, based on an evaluation we will make at the Economic Coordination Board [EKK] meeting,” said Ergün.
source: Today’s Zaman
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