Chinese carmaker says plans underway to build factory in Türkiye

By Gokhan Ergocun

ISTANBUL (AA) - Chinese vehicle producer SWM applied for building a car manufacturing plant in Türkiye, the firm's representative Atmo Group announced on Monday.

Atmo Group said Chinese brands focused on the localization of their production facilities to enter the EU and Türkiye markets.

Anto Chernov, the CEO of Atmo, said: "Atmo Group is interested in investing and developing more projects in Türkiye, our number of employees in Türkiye has doubled compared to last year, our revenue is growing every year and we have a long-term plan for development.

"We are currently working on a production facility with an annual production capacity of more than 50,000 vehicles."

The production facility should meet the needs of the Turkish market and will also focus on exports to the Balkan countries and other markets in the EU region, he stressed.

"We started negotiations with the Turkish Ministry of Industry months ago for production in Türkiye, and we are in talks with the Turkish Ministry of Trade and the Turkish Investment Office," he noted.

SWM, an Italian brand, was purchased by Chinese leading automobile producer Shineray Group in 2014.

The brand entered the Turkish market at the end of 2023 and determined the country as the center of its global growth strategy, Atmo recalled.