How Was Togg Born? The Founding Story of the Domestic Car Project

Togg is the end result of a domestic car call made in 2011, which turned into a company in 2017, a venture group established in 2018, and finally mass production in Gemlik in 2022. In other words, it is not a vehicle drawn up at a desk one night and put on the road the next day; it is the sum of more than a decade of debate, share negotiations, factory construction, and design hours. On this page, we tell that founding story, that is, how Togg was born, from beginning to end.

It All Started With a Call in 2011

Picture this in your mind: an idea debated at every dinner table for years. "If only we had our own car, one that would do justice to the Devrim." It was in this atmosphere that, in 2011 , the prime minister of the time, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, called on industrialists to produce a domestic car brand. Sounds simple, right? But here is the interesting part: the automotive sector's own organization had initially said "no way." The Automotive Industry Association had prepared a report explaining how this could not be done. In other words, before the project was even born, it had given rise to its opposition.

Think of it like a recipe: the ingredient list is ready, but no one dares to enter the kitchen. Years passed; the idea first became a policy topic, then moved into everyday bureaucracy, and from there to the company formation table. This period, stretching from 2011 to 2017, is the slowest but most decisive chapter of Togg's story.

2017–2018: From Idea to Company

The real turning point came in November 2017. President Erdoğan announced the companies and organizations that would work together to produce the domestic car. Around the same days, the Automotive Industry Association issued a statement of support for the "Türkiye's Automobile Venture Group" that would produce the vehicle. Take note: the institution that published the "how it cannot be done" report in 2011 was standing by the project six years later. This change alone is enough to show how much effort the process took.

The next step was quick. On June 2, 2018, signatures were signed for the establishment of the company, and it was announced that the design process had begun. Then, on June 25, 2018, Türkiye's Automobile Venture Group Industry and Trade Inc. was officially established.

Who Are the Partners, and Who Owns What Share?

The company's structure is built on a collaborative model: not the state, but major Turkish industry and technology companies are the shareholders. The distribution at the founding was as follows:

The first name to leave this table was Kök Group: September 2019 left the project in '21, and the departure was officially finalized in 2021. In the following years the composition of the table changed even further; İnan Kıraç left in 2021, and by 2026 news that Zorlu Holding and the Anadolu Group would exit the partnership, to be replaced by the Türkiye Wealth Fund, took the agenda. In short, Togg's birth story is over, but its share structure still rests on a moving balance.

There is another small but colorful detail: the domain name, which is the company's current internet address, was registered in 2003 by someone else, when there was not even a company called Togg yet. The company filed for an international arbitration process in 2021 to obtain this domain, but its application was rejected because no bad faith could be established due to the registration date. Sometimes even a domain name can be valuable enough to delay a project.

Factory in Gemlik: A Giant Site of 1,200,000 Square Meters

The company was founded, so where will production take place? The answer became clear on December 27, 2019: Bursa's Gemlik district. Two important announcements were made on the same day; one was a presentation, the other official. With Decree Number 1945 published in the Official Gazette, it was announced that investment-based state aid would be provided to the project. The factory's cost was announced as approximately 22 billion TL . In addition, with a regulation issued in 2022, if the investment period and employment conditions were met, the factory land could be registered free of charge - this became one of the most discussed items in the debates about the transfer of public resources to the project.

Construction in mid-2020 began. Approximately 1,200,000 m² in area, at the site 1,850 people worked; in the paint facility alone, 14,500 tons of steel and 33,000 m² of roof panels were installed. The 1.6 km test track in Gemlik named "Journey to Innovation" was also completed and the first test drive took place. On the battery side, a Togg-Farasis partnership called SIRO set out to establish 15 GWh battery cell and module facility in Gemlik. So Gemlik was not designed as an assembly plant, but as a complete production campus.

Design Process: What Does 150,000 Hours Mean?

Now let's come to the most dazzling part of the story: the vehicle itself. Togg's body design was done together with the Italian design company Pininfarina. TOGG and Pininfarina teams, under the direction of designer Murat Günak, worked approximately 150,000 hours . To grasp how long a time that is: if a single person did it, nonstop and without sleep, it would amount to almost 17 years. It is also known that 121 engineers took part in the design of the T10X and original changes were made to the Pininfarina concept.

The process progressed step by step. In September 2019, sketches of two modern SUVs were shared; a user-oriented design guide and design concept were created. On December 27, 2019- yes, the same day the Gemlik decision was announced - the SUV and sedan models were introduced at a press conference. The fruit of this work was not just the vehicle: Togg became the first Turkish brand to receive the iF Design Award in the mobility field.

Let's clarify one point, because it's still being confused on the internet: Pininfarina's HK K350 concept unveiled in Shanghai is not related to Togg. That vehicle is a conceptual framework exercise from the design world; it has no connection to the domestic car.

From Brand Name to Series Production: The Final Countdown

When the 2020s began, the project's identity also became clear. In August 2020, it was decided that the brand name would be Togg . On December 18, 2021, the new logo was introduced, followed by on January 6, 2022, the world premiere of the sedan (then named T10S, today's T10F) at the CES event in Las Vegas. Trial production at Gemlik was expected to begin in July 2022, and a 2024–2025 target was announced for exports.

As targeted, the first vehicle rolled off the series production line at the end of 2022.

This target was met. On October 29, 2022, the factory was opened with President Erdogan in attendance, and the first vehicle came off the line in "Anatolian Red" color. A production target of 17–18 thousand vehicles was set for the first year. What followed moved quickly: pre-orders were taken between March 16–27, 2023, the starting price was announced on March 14, 2023 as 953 thousand TL , and the first vehicle was delivered to the President on April 3, 2023.

Criticisms, Tensions, and Open Questions

To be honest, Togg's founding story is not a tale of admiration; nor was it without controversy. The tension between the project's progress and the industry's post-2011 "how not to do it" report is the earliest example of this opposition. State aid and free land allocation became subject to criticism on the axis of transferring public resources to the project. The names that withdrew from the partnership table - Kök Group's 2019 exit, Inan Kirac's 2021 departure, and the 2026 developments involving Zorlu and Anadolu Group - gave rise to the debate of "did the brave ones leave the table?" around the project. The fact that the starting price was above the cost estimates reflected in the press is also among the issues under scrutiny.

However, the answers to some questions have still not been fully disclosed. For example, how much has been spent in total on the domestic car project since 2011 - this has been officially asked through a written parliamentary question submitted to the Grand National Assembly; there is still no clear, publicly available figure. Such gaps do not diminish the project's honor, but it must also be remembered that transparency is important for a healthy evaluation.

So Where Are We Today?

As of 2026, the picture is as follows: the T10X and T10F are on the roads, the Trugo charging network has reached more than 1,000 stations, and during the transition period to electric vehicles, Togg has secured an undisputed place in Türkiye's industrial history. This is the current link in the chain extending from the Devrim. The answer to the question of how Togg was born is actually a single sentence: a call, a report, a six-year debate, the signature of five companies, a construction site, and the sum of 150,000 hours of design work. The birth story was complicated, yes - but no ordinary car's story is that clean.

Sources

• Togg - Wikipedia
• Togg official timeline (Milestone, Vision and Mission)
• TOBB - Signatures signed for the establishment of the company for Türkiye's Car
• Official Gazette - Decision No. 1945, project-based state aid
• Anadolu Agency - Approaching the end of a half-century-old domestic car dream
• NTV - The partnership structure changed in the domestic car TOGG
• TRT Haber - Minister Varank: TOGG will come off the mass production line at the end of 2022
• Teyit - Claims about the domestic car TOGG
• Motor1 - TOGG received the iF design award in the mobility field
• DW Turkish - TOGG starts mass production: What will its price be?
• TBMM - Written question motion (spending since 2011)
• Sabah - Flash domestic car statement from OSD
• CNBC-e - Claim that the partnership structure in TOGG is changing, TVF steps in
• Anlatılanın Ötesi - One more support for TOGG: The factory land will be granted free of charge
• BTSO Ekonomi - Togg hit its own track in Gemlik
• WIPO - Domain Name Decision D2021-1949
• ODMD - Retail Sales Domestic/Import Distribution (sales data)