Tulps usually have little in common with cars. But it does with Mehmet Gürcan Karakas. The head of the Turkish electric car start-up Togg leans down to the radiator grille of a black SUV and describes what the Western European eye does not immediately recognize: the tapering metal struts in the pattern are supposed to represent tulips – a symbol for the Anatolian earth of Turkey . Because that should be Togg – a thoroughly Turkish car.
Karakas received this order from Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The deadline is 2023, the year of the 100th birthday of the Turkish Republic.
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