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South Korean automaker Hyundai has begun mass production of the fully electric IONIQ 3 at its Izmit plant in Kocaeli, with an annual capacity of 30,000 units, making it the first foreign automaker to produce a fully electric passenger car in Türkiye.
The €250 million ($289.5 million) investment was inaugurated at a launch ceremony held at Hyundai Motor Türkiye’s factory on Friday, attended by Industry and Technology Minister Mehmet Fatih Kacir, South Korean Ambassador to Ankara Boo Sukjong and senior executives from Hyundai and Kibar Holding, Hyundai’s joint partner in Türkiye.
In his speech, Kacir described the IONIQ 3 project as a major step in Türkiye’s push to expand electric vehicle and battery production, noting that Hyundai’s Izmit plant has operated for nearly 30 years and is the automaker’s first and longest-running overseas production facility outside South Korea.
The plant has produced 13 models to date, while its annual capacity has risen from 50,000 vehicles in 2002 to 230,000, he added.
Kacir called the investment "a very valuable threshold" in Türkiye’s goal of becoming a global production hub for electric vehicles and battery technologies, noting that the project also includes a battery investment by Hyundai MOBIS.
"Türkiye is one of the exceptional destinations where next-generation mobility investments can be scaled," Kacir said, citing the country’s industrial base, supplier network, logistics infrastructure and access to major markets.
He added that Türkiye’s Customs Union and free trade agreements provide investors with "unrestricted access to 1 billion people."
The number of electric vehicles on Türkiye’s roads has surpassed 450,000, while fully electric models account for more than 17% of the domestic market this year. The figure is expected to exceed 1.5 million by 2030, Kacir stated.
Kibar Holding Chairman Ali Kibar said the partnership with Hyundai has evolved over more than 30 years into an industrial cooperation centered on technology transfer, exports and production.
"Capital is looking not only for the lowest-cost locations, but for countries that manage total risk, sustain production and provide reliable access to markets," Kibar said.
South Korean Ambassador to Ankara Boo Sukjong said the IONIQ 3 production launch marks a significant point in Türkiye-South Korea economic cooperation and reflects Korean companies’ commitment to working with Türkiye’s automotive ecosystem.
Boo added that the two countries are moving beyond their role as secure economic partners toward becoming "partners leading together in the high-tech sectors of the future."
Hyundai Motor Türkiye CEO YongJin Alex Kim and Hyundai Motor Europe President and CEO Xavier Martinet also addressed the ceremony, joined by local officials, lawmakers, Hyundai representatives and employees.
In 2025, Hyundai Motor Türkiye produced 197,000 automobiles, accounting for 22.6% of Türkiye’s total passenger-car production of 872,538 units, making it the country’s second-largest passenger-car producer behind Oyak Renault.
The company exported 156,500 vehicles, equivalent to 14.8% of Türkiye’s 1.1 million motor-vehicle exports, while its passenger-car exports represented 26.1% of the country’s 599,687 total passenger-car exports.
Domestically, Hyundai sold 66,261 passenger cars and 859 light commercial vehicles, or 67,120 vehicles in total, giving it a 4.9% share of the 1,368,400-unit passenger-car and light commercial vehicle market.
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