13 June 2018•Update: 13 June 2018
By Enes Kaplan
ANKARA
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Tuesday that Turkey's first indigenous automobile would contribute 50 billion euros ($58.7 billion) to the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
Erdogan said on Twitter that the electric car will also reduce Turkey’s dependency on petroleum.
“Our electric automobile that will hit the roads in 2021 will contribute 50 billion euros to GDP, reducing oil dependency. It's time for a local car. It’s time for Turkey,” he said.
Erdogan also shared a graphic that described how the indigenous automobile would contribute to Turkey’s economy.
Nearly 100 sub-sectors that will develop information, software and digital technologies will form and smart driving systems will reflect technologies of the future, the graphic said.
It also will contribute 7 billion euros ($8.2 billion) to the current account deficit and 20,000 jobs.
The graphic also contained automotive industry export data which showed that exports rose from $4.8 billion to $28.5 billion from 2002 to 2017 while annual production in the automotive industry rose from 347,000 to 1,696,000 units during the same period.
Turkey launched a joint venture to produce its first domestically-produced car in November last year.
Five local firms -- Anadolu Group, BMC, Kiraca Holding, Turkcell and Zorlu Holding -- will jointly manufacture the car.
