Turkey to Provide Incentives for Hybrid Cars
Turkish government’s incentives to encourage electric automobile usage is positive and pleasing, according to Ali Haydar Bozkurt, chief executive officer of Toyota Turkey.
Speaking to the Anatolia news agency, Bozkurt said, “We have a lot to do on this issue. We need to take action to support the electric automobiles on sale.”
The company has observed examples by other countries to encourage hybrid automobiles and presented them to related institutions in Turkey, he said.
Noting that environment-friendly automobiles are encouraged with special tax incentives other areas of the world, Bozkurt said, “There have been no steps taken in Turkey until today.”
“Within the scope of the automotive strategy document prepared by the Turkish government, we hope that electric cars will be supported by some incentives,” he said.
The global sales figures of hybrid cars are high, Bozkurt said. “Toyota has increased to 1 million units. It is hard to meet the demand shown in electric cars. It is an environment-friendly technology. We believe that sales in Turkey will also reach higher levels with a similar incentive implementation. The current tax rate is high.”
Meanwhile, Hideto Yamasaki, director general of Honda Turkey, said sales prices of electric cars are expensive because the cost of hybrid car production is higher than other automobiles.
Many countries implement incentives to decrease prices and extend the usage of electric cars, Yamasaki said. “In an automotive fair held in Istanbul, we saw a hybrid car with Turkish customers. We want to commercialize this automobile in Turkey. According to the demand we receive, we will offer our new electric car also in Turkey.”
Toyota Japan resumes production
Meanwhile, Toyota Motor resumed car production at all of its plants in Japan Monday, for the first time since the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, but said the factories will run at half capacity due to parts shortages. The world’s No. 1 automaker said it was still struggling to secure around 150 types of auto parts, the Associated Press reported. The magnitude 9.0 earthquake and ensuing tsunami destroyed parts of factories in northeastern Japan, causing severe shortages of components.
The twin disasters forced Toyota to shut down all output in Japan except at three plants, which have been running at limited capacity since late March and early April to produce hot-selling Prius, Lexus and Corolla cars.
The 900 workers at Toyota’s auto plant in Miyagi, one of the worst-hit areas, observed a minute’s silence for tsunami victims before starting work Monday.
Monday, April 18, 2011
SOURCE: HURRIYET DAILY NEWS
