'Turkey determined to boost hybrid, electric car sales'

By Emre Ayvaz, Onur Orhan, Hanife Sevinc, Mucahit Turetken, and Omer Faruk Cebeci</p> <p>SAKARYA, Turkey (AA) – Turkey is determined to boost the sales of hybrid and electric automobiles in the country, Turkey’s vice president said on Monday. </p> <p>&quot;Developing and using low-consumption, environmentally friendly automobile technologies in our country is vital for us,&quot; Fuat Oktay said at the launch ceremony for a new hybrid car by Japanese carmaker Toyota at its plant in Turkey’s Sakarya province.</p> <p>Oktay said right now the country is at the ground level in terms of sales of hybrid and electric cars.</p> <p>&quot;Last year, nearly 4,000 hybrid cars and 155 electric cars were sold in Turkey. However, total automobile sales totaled nearly half a million,&quot; Oktay said.</p> <p>Over 486,000 automobiles were sold in Turkey in 2018, down 33 percent from a year earlier, according to the Automotive Distributors' Association (ODD). </p> <p>Oktay said the new hybrid car's production in Turkey is an important landmark in this field. </p> <p>He said the government provides considerable tax advantages such as up to 50 percent tax reduction to encourage hybrid car production.</p> <p>Johan van Zyl, the CEO of Toyota Motor Europe, said the company has produced more than 2.4 million cars since it started production in Turkey.</p> <p>Zyl also said Toyota has invested over €1.8 billion (around $2.5 billion) in its production operations in Turkey. </p> <p>Telling how the company started producing its first Turkish-made seventh-generation Corollas in 1994, Zyl said they are proud of launching the 2019 Corolla Saloon Hybrid, the model's 12th generation.</p> <p>Toshihiko Kudo, the CEO of Toyota Motor Manufacturing Turkey, said they are pleased to contribute to Turkey's successful economy via production, exports, investments, and employment. </p> <p>In October 2016 Toyota Turkey launched its first hybrid vehicle, the C-HR — a sport utility vehicle (SUV) — in Turkey. </p> <p>On Monday, before the ceremony, Oktay bid a group of researchers farewell for their five-week expedition to Antarctica.</p> <p>&quot;This year we will be establishing a temporary base in this expedition. Our next target is to establish a permanent base,&quot; Oktay said. </p> <p>Turkey aims to be a consultative party in the Antarctic Treaty, as it currently has observer status, he said. </p> <p>Turkey’s third national scientific expedition to Antarctica will begin on Tuesday to set up a national base for scientific research on the coldest continent on earth.</p> <p>The expedition will carry out total 13 national and international scientific projects in several fields during its 30-day mission.</p> <p>A total of 25 people, including 17 Turkish and eight foreign participants, will take part in the expedition. A team from Anadolu Agency will be with them to cover the scientific research on the ground.</p> <p> </p> <p>

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