Citroen CEO Vincent Cobée, who came to Istanbul, announced to the world for the first time that they are working on a model suitable for the Turkish market and that they will make the world launch of the model here in June. Vincent Cobée said, “Beyond that, I will come again next year”, signaling that the brand has chosen Turkey as the new center for “competitive” models and that a second model will be launched in the world again in our country.
Continuing its activities under the umbrella of Stellantis, one of the largest automotive groups in the world, the Turkish structuring of French Citroen turned the crisis into an opportunity despite the devastating effects of the pandemic. With the sales figures it has achieved in the last two years, the Turkey office has ranked 7th after Europe and China in Citroen’s global sales. The sales chart that the brand has captured in Turkey in recent years has also drawn the attention of Citroen’s global CEO Vincent Cobée. Cobée, who came to Istanbul last week just for this reason, met with a limited number of journalists at the meeting, to which we were also invited. In his statement, Citroen CEO Cobée announced to the world for the first time that they are working on an ‘economical’ automobile model that meets Turkey’s expectations and that they will make the global launch of this model in our country in June.
TURKEY IN A KEY ROLE
Cobée’s messages about Turkey were quite remarkable. Stating that Citroen had a significant market share outside of Europe in the past, but this has changed in recent years, Cobée reminded that they turned to Europe again with the closure of Iran and the decrease in volume in China. “Now we are rebalancing Europe and outside of Europe,” said Cobée, pointing to Turkey’s role: “At this point, Turkey is an impressive market. Its young population, purchasing desire and tastes are different… The Turkish automotive market is not where it was 5 years ago. So there is a very high potential here. My job is to create the right, appropriate offer. In other words, to come up with the right product that will meet the expectations of the population here. We must prepare our products in a way that will appeal to the middle class at the same time by offering more products.
SECOND LAUNCH SIGNAL
Today, thanks to Turkey and a few other markets, we are re-establishing our more competitive position in the world. I will visit Turkey again at the end of June. Because we will make a global launch here. We will launch it here as it is a point where there are great performances. The vehicle that we will launch here will be a vehicle suitable for the Turkish market. However, it will actually be a vehicle suitable for the entire Mediterranean basin, Europe, North Africa, Turkey and the surrounding markets.”
Cobée, who did not give much details about the vehicle but stated that it will be a model that will have electric versions of the vehicle later, said, “Beyond that, I will come again next year”, signaling that the brand has chosen Turkey as the center in competitive models and that a second model will be launched in the world again in our country. . Cobée also said that Turkey has the potential to become one of Citroen’s 5 largest markets worldwide.
PEOPLE HERE ARE TELLING US “You’re RIGHT”
At the meeting attended by VINCENT Cobée, Citroen Turkey General Manager Selen Alkim and Marketing Director Zeynep Durusu, “In the last two years, there have been serious declines and contractions in the world automotive market. This team has managed to grow as a whole chain, with the help of the market on the one hand, but also thanks to their resilience, dedication and performance. I am here to congratulate them and give my support. We were not planning to launch Ami in Turkey in the first place. However, we made it happen in the face of the passion of this team. They talk to us and they can say to us, ‘You are wrong, this is the right thing to do,'” he said.
‘TURKEY WILL BE ELECTRIC FAST THAN THOUGHT’
Stating that they will start selling the electric C4 in Turkey in September, Citroen CEO said: “From now on, we will have an electric option for every new product we launch. Frankly, I think that the electric market will progress much faster than expected in Turkey. Of course, this issue is parallel to how fast the infrastructure will develop, but I can say that customer acceptance is ready.”
THE EFFECT OF THE CHIP CRISIS WILL CONTINUE
Answering our questions about the chip crisis, which has become one of the most important problems of the global automotive industry, Cobée said, “I have to say that we do not expect a great development especially this year regarding the chip problem of the automotive industry. The most important reason for this is the long time of chip manufacturing. We need a significant amount of time to increase chip production capacity. The electronics market for the chip industry is a more profitable sector than the automotive industry. For this reason, the automotive remains in the background. At this point, I need to state that a little more time is needed.”
300 MILLION TL SUPPORT TO CHARGING STATIONS
The Ministry of Industry and Technology launched the “Fast Charging Stations for Electric Vehicles Grant Program” to enable entrepreneurs to invest in fast charging stations in order to establish the charging infrastructure of electric vehicles in Turkey. Industry and Technology Minister Mustafa Varank, on his Twitter account, said, “We are determined to bring the necessary infrastructure for electric vehicles to our country. Today, we opened the grant program with a budget of 300 million TL for the establishment of high-speed charging stations in 1,560 different points of Turkey. Good luck to our investors”.
TO BE ESTABLISHED IN 81 PROVINCES
With the support program, a grant will be given to the installation of a fast charging station. With the grant support with a total budget of 300 million TL, fast charging stations will be installed at 1,560 points in 81 provinces. Investors will be able to receive support from the program up to 250 thousand lira per station. An additional 20 percent support will be given to domestically made units. Investors will be able to apply to the program from the internet address “sarjdestek.sanayi.gov.tr” until June 15, 2022.
NUMBERS WILL INCREASED
In the “Mobility Vehicles and Technologies Roadmap” prepared by the Ministry of Industry and Technology, General Directorate of National Technology with the contribution of relevant public institutions and sector actors, a projection including 3 different scenarios for the development of electric vehicles in Turkey, as low, medium and high, was created. Accordingly, in the high scenario in 2025, it is estimated that annual electric vehicle sales will be 180 thousand and electric vehicle stock will be 400 thousand. In the medium scenario, it is predicted that the annual sales of electric vehicles will be 120 thousand and the electric vehicle stock will be 270 thousand. In the low scenario, it is estimated that the annual electric vehicle sales will be around 65 thousand and the electric vehicle stock will be around 160 thousand.
CAR OF THE YEAR WORLDWIDE
Founded in 2021 as a sub-brand of HYUNDAI, IONIQ’s first model on the E-GMP platform, ONIQ 5, was named “World Car Of The Year- WCOTY” at the International Auto Show held in New York. IONIQ 5 also won the “Electric Car of the Year” and “Design of the Year” awards. The fully electric car can be charged from 10 to 80 percent in just 18 minutes. Featuring ultra-fast 800 V charging, the car uses E-GMP, a global modular platform that has also been developed for a more spacious interior. The vehicle, which also has an all-wheel drive (4WD) system, has a maximum range of approximately 470 to 480 kilometers on a single charge, according to the WLTP standard. The IONIQ 5 is also equipped with Vehicle-to-Vehicle Charging (V2L) technology, while also featuring advanced connectivity and cutting-edge in-car driver assistance systems.
