How Has Togg's Design Language Changed Türkiye's Approach to Automobiles?

Automobile Design
Author: Lütfi Mete Odabaşı
Creation: 19 October 2026

From Tulip to Oltu Stone: Togg became the first Turkish brand to turn Anatolia's own palette into metal, rather than imitating another car from the outside.

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Togg's design language is the story of a brand built from scratch creating its own signature elements - the tulip motif, Anatolia-inspired colors, light signature and interior screen layout - from start to finish. This language T10X and T10F also fuels the debate about local design identity: did the design truly come from within, or does it carry international consultancy? Here is the answer from both sides.

Highlights

Design studio grew with an in-house team of 25 designers, engineers and digital artists
C-SUV, in 2021, became the first Turkish brand to win an award in the mobility field
The tulip motif was proposed in the first concept; it extended from the grille to the wheels and seats
Color names come from real places: Gemlik, Kula, Cappadocia, Oltu, Seyhan
T10F, set a record with an 84% localization rate

Why Is Building a Design Language From Scratch So Hard?

Think of it this way: designing a new model for an existing brand is like renovating a room in a well-established house. The rules are set - the kidney grille is there, the light signature is known, you just update it. But if you are building a brand from scratch, you are also laying the foundation of the house. Which line will become the brand's line? Which surface will be recognizable? None of these come ready-made.

Togg was born exactly at this point. Founded in 2018 under the leadership of TOBB in cooperation with Anadolu Group, BMC, Root Group, Turkcell and Zorlu Group, the company set out as a Gebze-based electric car manufacturer. And in December 2019, it shared two modern SUV sketches along with a user-centered design guide. In other words, the design language began to be written even before the first vehicle - an unusual order in the automotive world.

In April 2020, the design was registered in the European Union, going down in history as the EU registration of Türkiye's first domestic car design. A year later, in April 2021, the C-SUV won an award in the Professional Concept category at the iF Design Awards; while around 10,000 products and projects from 52 countries competed that year, it became the first Turkish brand to win an award in the mobility field. The design was also registered in China, Japan and Russia, in addition to the 27 EU countries. In other words, before the first vehicle even hit the road, the design language had a legal and award-winning identity.

The Birth of the Design Studio: Without an Established Playbook

Berkan Kaplan, the head of Togg's design studio, is the name who tells the most interesting part of the process. The early concept direction took shape under the consultancy of experienced designer Murat Günak, with Pininfarina as a solution partner. But according to Kaplan, a corporate structure was missing for the transition from concept to series production: it was the studio that managed the entire path extending from prototypes to show cars and the final production vehicle.

The studio transformed from a small team into a group of 25 designers, engineers and digital artists. Budget, hiring and process management were entirely in-house. He emphasizes that there was no established playbook for an in-house automotive studio in Türkiye - meaning we are talking about a team doing everything for the first time. The brand name and logo were also among the strategic design decisions jointly owned by this team.

What Did Murat Günak and Pininfarina Actually Do?

Here is the heart of the debate. Murat Günak is a name who served as chief designer at Volkswagen and Mercedes, and he became Togg's lead designer at the beginning of April 2021. Pininfarina, on the other hand, is an Italian design legend - a studio synonymous with Ferraris. This duo undoubtedly gave the brand international legitimacy. But it also raised this question: is it right to have the design commissioned and then call it 100% domestic design? Barış Özcan raised exactly this question for discussion. The story Kaplan tells says that strategic ownership is in-house; where you draw the line between consultancy and ownership is up to you.

The Tulip Motif: A Whole Language from a Single Clue

The most recognizable signature of Togg's design language is the tulip. An interesting detail: the tulip motif was proposed by Pininfarina at the earliest concept stage and became the visual emblem. But the mastery here lies in spreading a single element across the entire vehicle rather than using it as mere ornament. The tulip was integrated from a single design clue into various elements - the grille, the wheels, and interior details - deliberately so as not to be merely decorative. T10F's design, the tulip figure even inspired the seat design. In other words, the same idea flows like the brand's handwriting from exterior to interior. Think of another brand: if you saw a tulip there, you would remember nothing; at Togg, the tulip is the brand itself.

A Color Palette from Anatolia: A Map from Gemlik to Oltu

The colors are the studio's own creation, and each was named with a reference to a real place and a real texture. This is not making a paint catalog; it is telling a story. Gemlik Blue carries the deep tones of the Sea of Marmara; Anatolian Red refers to the warm character of Anatolia; Oltu Black takes its name from a dark texture like Oltu stone. The white color was added as Seyhan and was inspired by Adana. Kula and Cappadocia also find their own place on this map.

The brand's promise of Gem of Anatolia, that is, Anatolia's Pearl, materializes precisely at this layer: the tulip as motif, the Anatolian geography as palette. Although it is not read as an official design manifesto, it is clear that the form and naming are woven with all these geographical references.

Light Signature and Deliberate Calm: Contrast from Outside to Inside

Togg T10X'in gerçek iddiası dışarıda değil içeride: sakin bir gövdenin ardında ekranlarla örülen fırtına gibi bir teknoloji deneyimi saklı.

Since the classic grille loses its meaning in electric vehicles, brands define themselves with light. Togg's front LED light signature has a strong, downward-directed line - it is precisely this line that lets you recognize the car when it approaches at night. In the T10F design, the aim is a wide and low profile with elongated lines focused on horizontal stretch, compact headlights, and shield volumes. They want the car to look planted and wide, with classic fastback elegance.

Another conscious decision is the calmness of the T10X's exterior appearance. The exterior was deliberately kept almost conservative; because the technology is inside, not on the surface. The screens lined up side by side serve as the organizing principle of the interior. In other words, the car does not look like a storm from the outside, but when you get in, technology welcomes you. The panoramic glass roof is also part of this interior experience: on the T10X it is offered as an option for around 1,000 EUR in both V1 and V2 equipment levels.

How Did the World Press and User Perception Respond to This Language?

The test of the design language begins the moment the vehicle appears abroad. A German press review published in October 2025 praised the T10X's design, interior and digital vision, but criticized issues such as energy consumption. In other words, the formal language found international buyers; the engineering side remained open to debate.

Public perception in Türkiye is warmer. An academic study conducting sentiment analysis on Twitter data revealed that comments about Togg were more positive than negative, and that the product was popular with the public. But not everything is rosy: the logo became the most visible crisis in the construction of the brand signature. An analysis by a design studio argued that the official logo was primarily strategically wrong and even offered alternative proposals. The hardest part of building a signature from scratch is not the vehicle, but the symbol.

Native Design or Consultant-Assisted Design?

This question still circulates in forums and opinion columns. The common view on the forum side is that the design is 100% native and that Pininfarina was only worked with on a contractual basis. The 25-person internal team establishment that Kaplan describes also supports this picture. The opposing side recalls Günak's leadership and the Pininfarina partnership, questioning the claim of nativeness. The honest answer probably lies between the two: the domestic studio built the backbone, international experience provided guidance.

The historical framework adds to this: Ford Otosan was founded in 1959 and produced the Anadol in 1969; the Anadol was Türkiye's second Turkish-designed car after the Devrim. In other words, the 60-year expectation narrative behind Togg is not an empty slogan - it is a story built on half a century that has passed.

Where Is This Design Language Heading Now?

The brand did not confine its design language to a single model; it is expanding its portfolio. There is a target of five models by 2030: SUV, B-SUV, sedan, C-hatchback and B-MPV; again by 2030, 20,000 jobs are targeted, 5,000 of which will be direct. The first mass-production model, the C-SUV, T10X, rolled off the line in the last quarter of 2022 and was unveiled to the public at CES Las Vegas in January 2023. At the launch, claims of 170,000 pre-orders and a 5-star Euro NCAP rating were voiced - these figures come from the brand narrative and have no independent confirmation. Deliveries in 2023 are estimated at around 20,000 units, again without an official statement.

Recent developments are also interesting: T10F, broke a record with an 84% localization rate but lost its sales leadership to BYD according to January 2026 data. Togg is targeting more than 60,000 units of production for 2026 and an annual capacity of 100,000 by the end of the year. New models codenamed T6, T8, and T12 have been registered in Europe; the T10X Obsidian series went on sale in Germany starting at €52,690. The next test of the design language will be whether it can preserve the same signature in these new body styles.

Conclusion: Can Form Tell a Story of Identity?

Togg's design language can be considered a textbook case of building a signature from scratch: taking a single motif and spreading it across the entire vehicle, matching colors to the geography, and establishing a deliberate contrast between exterior calm and interior technology. All of these are decisions, all are acts of will. On the other hand, the logo crisis and the localization debate also remind us that brand identity is not just about beautiful drawings. In my view, the most interesting question is this: ten years from now, when you look at the back of a car and notice the tulip clue, will we read it as a brand's handwriting, or as nostalgia for an era? Which one do you think it will be?