00:00Hello Marjorie, thanks so much for passing over there with all your usual elegance.
00:06So we're speaking smart mobility, smart cities and connecting the different ecosystems.
00:10It's very important, we're speaking to the CEO of TOG, Gürcan Karakash.
00:15I hope I pronounced that correctly.
00:17Perfect.
00:18So TOG is Turkey's Automobile Joint Venture Group.
00:21The primary objective is to create sustainable and competitive electric cars.
00:26The company is a key player in the region and a key player in the transformation of the car industry
00:31towards environmentally friendly and advanced technologies, ultimately in the transition towards smart mobility in smart cities.
00:39First off, I'd like to speak a bit more about yourself.
00:42I get the impression you're really very much of a natural optimist.
00:45Is that something that's important for you in your business and how you've got to where you've got to today?
00:49First of all, I am a natural optimist.
00:53And on the other side, I mean, in my vocabulary, the word impossible doesn't exist.
00:59So, and being the natural optimist on one side requires also at the same time being the challenger.
01:05So I do challenge and I'm challenging everything that is existing and that's the only way how to make from
01:11impossible things possible.
01:13So like we do right now with the transformation and the entire automotive industry into the mobility ecosystem,
01:20what we are doing together with TOG.
01:22Okay. And smart mobility is transforming the way we move, not just in Turkey, but around the world, of course.
01:29Right.
01:30Also interacting with urban space and giving users a different kind of experience while they're traveling.
01:35How is TOG contributing to that? Can you tell me more about the user value and the user experience that
01:41you're creating?
01:42Sure. First of all, the entire company is built, structured around creating value to the user.
01:48So, for example, we do not have a product development process. We have a user value development process. For that,
01:54we need to start with the user.
01:56So we are listening, we are observing, and we are doing user research. So just to give you an example,
02:02within the last three years, more than even three years, we have identified 350 user experience scenarios where we believe
02:11we are creating value.
02:13So we tested it. We observed that. And we asked our potential users. And some 40 of them have been
02:19nominated to be having a novelty degree high.
02:23So it means, from the user perspective, I'm interested, I'm willing, I would like to do that.
02:28And this is one thing. But on the other side, the driver of that is really coming from the mega
02:34trends.
02:34So on one side, the technology is making more available. Digitalization is everywhere. Smart devices are everywhere.
02:41With the smart devices and digitalization, the living spaces are melting to each other.
02:46So what happens is that the user expects the very same while sitting in the mobility device.
02:52What they were doing during the living room spaces or office spaces means shopping, means taxes paying, means listening to
03:04music, etc.
03:05So this is what we can do, what we offer in the smart mobility device.
03:09Okay, well, that's the user perspective. Can you tell me a bit more about how the ecosystems, how you hope
03:14to evolve cities into smart cities?
03:17What's the role of TOG in creating those ecosystems?
03:21Okay, very good point. So if you talk about, again, to pick up the topic, from the user value, for
03:28example, the 40 nauti degree high user experience scenario,
03:32we can realize with fintech, insurtech, gamification, blockchain, cybersecurity, and all derivatives of artificial intelligence.
03:43And they are not existing. None of them are existing in the automotive industry.
03:47So where do we go? We go to the startups because these are the key competencies of the startups.
03:53This is one of the reasons why we are here at VivaTech last year as well.
03:56That's the reason why we did our first international debut last year in Las Vegas in the Consumer Electronics Show,
04:02where also lots of startups are there.
04:04So therefore, the ecosystem can grow only together, we say together, with startups to create value.
04:14And this is one of the important things where the classical OEMs right now are still searching for ways how
04:21to build that up.
04:22And one final question. One of the key issues about electric vehicles is, of course, the potential for environmental benefit,
04:29but also concerns about the impact they could potentially have.
04:33What are the technologies and the initiatives that TOG is building on to ensure that protection continues?
04:39First of all, we have a naturally-born, native-born electric vehicle, so emission zero.
04:47So we are expanding it to our business partners, what others call suppliers, to scope three.
04:53So we have already started last year to talk to our business partners.
04:57This year, we did the baselining, and we have started the project.
05:00So on a blockchain, I can write to you your carbon footprint based on your configuration of the smart device.
05:08And I, as a talk, we help to contribute there also with the development of the latest state-of-the
05:16-art lithium-ion batteries.
05:18So our cell, for example, is one of the rare carbon-neutral cells.
05:24Our business partner, our strategic partner, Faras is in this case, in the world.
05:29So we are offering, besides lithium-ion batteries, ultra-fast charging stations in the entire Turkey with renewable energy, 100
05:37% renewable energy.
05:38Okay. I'm afraid, Gertrude Karakas, we've run out of time.
05:41That was fascinating.
05:42And if anyone wants more information about that, they can find out more about the TOG company on the stand
05:49here at Vivotech 2023.
05:53Over to you, Marjorie.
05:54Thank you.
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