Turkey Industry Minister Mustafa Varank announced on Thursday, October 4, that Turkish automaker Oyak Renault would invest more than 100 million euro (US$115 million) for setting up an aluminium injection plant in north-western Turkey for new generation hybrid cars.
The plant will be constructed in Bursa starting from October 19, and the majority of products produced in it will be exported, said the minister, adding that the investment would contribute US$2.3 billion to narrowing Turkey’s current account deficit.
In the mid-July, the news came that French automotive giant Renault was preparing Turkey to turn it into a hybrid vehicle base. According to the news, the hybrid engine produced in Turkey would be used in the fifth generation of Clio produced in Bursa. Oyak Renault received a TL 493 million ($102 million) incentive for hybrid car investments under the Project Based Incentive System.
The news also included that from January 2018 to May 2018, Europe saw a total sale of 227,200 numbers of hybrid cars. While hybrid vehicle sales soared by 22 per cent, their market share rose to 3.3 per cent. The country with the greatest number of hybrid vehicles sold in the first five months of the year was France with 35,000 units, followed by Italy with 34,000 cars, the U.K. with 33,000 cars, Spain with 28,000 cars, and Germany with 23,000 cars.
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