Doğuş Otomotiv, the Turkish distributor of Volkswagen vehicles, has signed a letter of intent with Volkswagen Group companies to evaluate options for producing Volkswagen-brand passenger cars in Türkiye, the company said in a filing to the Public Disclosure Platform (KAP) on Friday, Anadolu Agency (AA), NTV and Habertürk reported.
KAP is the official platform through which companies listed on Borsa Istanbul make legally required announcements to investors.
In the filing, Doğuş Otomotiv said the planned cooperation was expected to bring value-added products suited to new technologies to the Turkish market and to contribute to the development of the country’s automotive industry, according to AA and NTV.
No plant, models or timeline yet
The disclosure did not name a production site, models, volumes, an investment amount or a start date, Habertürk and the technology site ShiftDelete reported. A letter of intent is a preliminary document that sets out the parties’ intention to negotiate; the filing describes an evaluation of options rather than a final investment decision.
ShiftDelete noted that the reference to new technologies did not in itself confirm electric vehicles, as no models had been specified.
The earlier Manisa plan
Volkswagen had previously planned a car factory in the western province of Manisa, with an investment of about 1.3 billion euros and annual capacity of 300,000 vehicles, according to ShiftDelete and Son Dakika. The project was first postponed and then dropped in 2020, and the plant was never built, the same reports said.
For background on how European Union industrial policy could affect carmakers in Türkiye, see our report on the EU Industrial Accelerator Act and Turkish automotive.
Sources
- Doğuş Otomotiv, Volkswagen ile Türkiye’de üretim için niyet mektubu imzaladı (AA via Haberler.com)
- Volkswagen’den Türkiye’ye fabrika hamlesi (NTV)
- Volkswagen’den Türkiye’de üretim hamlesi: Niyet mektubu imzaladı (Habertürk)
- Volkswagen Türkiye üretimi için niyet mektubu imzalandı (ShiftDelete)
- Alman otomotiv devi Türkiye’de otomobil üretecek (Son Dakika)
Photo: Marek Ślusarczyk (Tupungato) Photo portfolio / CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
