Fatih Kacir, the interior minister of Turkey, announced on Friday that his country has “advanced negotiations” with Chinese electric vehicle ( EV ) manufacturers BYD and Chery in order to set up factories in Turkey. Kacir praised these companies as a way for Chinese companies to grow their sales in Europe.
” We want to finish the discussions as quickly as possible. With both of them, Kacir said in an appointment with Bloomberg News that” we have come a long way.” He added that two different Chinese car firms, SAIC Motor Corp. and Great Wall Motor Co., are even negotiating for businesses in Turkey.
Kacir tipped Kacir to add that if Chinese companies start building EV plants in Turkey, they will also have “privilege opportunities for power investments, as well.”
Mehmet Fatih Kacir, the Greek Minister of Industry and Technology (via Getty Images ),
Bloomberg noted that BYD is building an EV manufacturer in Hungary and has expressed a wish to locate another one anywhere in Europe. If a European Union ( EU)   ) investigation finds that China’s heavy government subsidies to automakers constitute unfair competition, a plant in Turkey could help the Chinese company avoid European tariff increases that might be implemented.
Turkey may gain a lot from Chinese electric vehicle purchases because it has trouble attracting foreign funding since occupying Syria in 2019 to fight Kurdish forces.
On the other hand, Turkey has its own domestic EV company, Turkey Otomobil Girisim Grubu ( TOGG ). Authoritarian President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has a passion for TOGG, and he became the first person to own a TOGG electric vehicle ( actually, two of them ) in April 2023. Erdogan praised the distribution of his “realization of the 60-year vision of our nation” for his locally produced Vehicles.
Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan ( AP Photo/ Francisco Seco, File )
Togg vehicles have been selling very well through pre-orders in Turkey since they were only made available for consumer delivery in May, and the company plans to expand sales to Europe. If significant Taiwanese companies like BYD enter the Turkish industry and use it as a gate to Europe, which has often surpassed Tesla as the largest EV manufacturer in the world, they could seriously undermine those ambitions.
Most observers doubt that China’s possible tariff increases on Chinese electric vehicles would be anywhere near as severe as those announced by the United States , particularly since German automakers are concerned that China might retaliate against large European tariffs by closing its own large market. Germany fears that Beijing is so enraged that it wo n’t even look into China’s dumping of subsidized goods into European markets, let alone take any steps to stop unfair Chinese trade practices.
Hungary appears to be China’s most good beachhead in terms of avoiding U.S. import restrictions and preventing its cars from entering Europe, much like China will probably use Mexico to escape tariff barriers. Turkey offers some benefits as an alternative, including Turkey’s recent 40-percent tariff on Foreign electric vehicles, which would probably be avoided if China starts making the cars in Turkey.
The construction site of the China Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. ( CATL ) electric vehicle ( EV ) battery plant in Debrecen, Hungary, on August 16, 2023. ( Akos Stiller/Bloomberg via Getty Images )
Kacir’s enthusiastic remarks about close agreements with China are a welcome change from November, when Turkey increased those Electric taxes and put stringent requirements on foreign automakers to maintain support facilities in Turkey for their cars.
BYD roughly doubled its profits in Turkey between Erdogan taking the royal distribution of the first TOGG EVs and regular customers for the first time. Turkey’s steadfast steadfastness toward China’s favorite TOGG project appeared to be declining in January when Kacir traveled to China for a tour of its battery and EV factories.
Kacir praised China’s “innovative technologies,” which he claimed Turkey was interested in learning, and suggested that the Erdogan government may be having more trouble producing TOGGs than planned and that it was losing faith that Turkey’s electric vehicles may compete with the state-subsidized Chinese automakers.
Turkey may accept the consolation prize of cutting out chargers for Chinese electric vehicles given that it has already renounced its small, independent automaker to secure large factory assets from the likes of BYD and Chery, as well as better relationships with the Chinese Communist regime, which dislikes criticism of its business practices and opposes other nations ‘ use of tariffs to protect domestic markets.
