'Turkey aims to be top electric vehicle producer'

By Gokhan Ergocun and Tuba Sahin

ISTANBUL (AA) - Turkey will be the largest commercial electric vehicle producer thanks to a major automotive firm's new investment in Turkey, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Tuesday.

Turkey's battery production capacity will expand by 130,000 units with the new investment of Ford Otosan -- a joint venture of Turkish Koc Holding and Ford -- Erdogan stressed during an event in the capital Ankara.

Turkey-based automotive firm Ford Otosan will open its battery assembly factory for electric vehicles in 2022 in the country's industrial province of Kocaeli.

The government has provided various incentives to businesses to make the private sector the engine of the country's development, Erdogan said.

Staying on top as Turkey's leading export sector, the automotive industry's exports in 2020 exceeded $25 billion amid pandemic, he noted.

Turkey exported more than 900,000 vehicles to 180 countries across five continents last year, Erdogan said, adding: "This momentum we achieved in 2020 enabled us to make a strong start to 2021."