Volkswagen is once again weighing car production in Türkiye. Its longtime distributor there, Doğuş Otomotiv, said on Oct. 30 that it had signed a letter of intent with Volkswagen Group companies to evaluate options for producing Volkswagen-brand passenger cars in the country.
What's been said
- Doğuş told the KAP public disclosure platform that the goal is to offer Turkish buyers higher-value products built on new technologies and to help develop the local auto industry, Anadolu Agency reports.
- No models, investment, capacity or timeline have been announced, electrive notes.
- Reuters reported that Doğuş shares rose 10% in morning trade, on course for their biggest one-day gain since May 2025.
- Volkswagen dropped plans for a Turkish factory in 2020, citing the pandemic and the economy.
China-developed cars
electrive, citing Auto Motor und Sport, reports that the talks include CKD kit assembly of models first developed for China. Those could include the FAW-Volkswagen Magotan, a Passat variant, plus Jetta and Audi models. Volkswagen confirmed to Turkish media that it's looking at shipping partly assembled vehicles from non-European plants to Türkiye. It's unclear whether EVs would be included.
The move fits Volkswagen's "In China, Beyond China" strategy of using China-developed vehicles and technology in other regions. The ID. ERA 5X, for example, uses the CMP platform and CEA architecture.