Elon Musk’s electric vehicle company Tesla hiring in Turkey

The US electric vehicle giant Tesla may soon expand in Turkey. 

The electric vehicle-focused website electrek reported Tuesday that Tesla is looking to hire people in Turkey. Tesla’s job board showed Wednesday several “vehicle service” jobs in Istanbul’s Besiktas neighborhood. 

Tesla’s launch in Turkey has been in the works for some time. In January, Tesla named a branch head for Turkey. The following June, Tesla began installing charging stations in Turkey. The "superchargers," which will be located across the country, are not yet available, according to Tesla’s official website. 

Why it matters: Tesla’s fully electric vehicles are becoming more popular around the world, particularly as fuel prices and concerns about the environment rise. 

Tesla does not have an official store in Turkey. The only Tesla stores in the Middle East are in Israel and Jordan. Expanding into Turkey would therefore be a significant development. 

Turkey is an automobile manufacturing hub. Ford, Toyota, Mercedes and several other car companies make cars there. More than a million vehicles per year are made in Turkey, according to Trading Economics. 

The Turkish government in particular is interested in electric cars. In 2017, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan unveiled plans to build electric cars domestically. A factory for Turkey's Automobile Joint Venture Group (TOGG) finally began production this past October. 

Tesla owner Elon Musk has significant ties to Turkey. Musk and Erdogan met in 2017 to discuss electric cars. They held another meeting in December 2021 to discuss space travel. Days later, Musk’s SpaceX launched a Turkish satellite into space. 

Know more: Other countries in the region are also looking into building electric vehicles. In September, China’s NWTN signed a deal to build an electric vehicle facility in Abu Dhabi. Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund also launched its Ceer electric car company in November.