National car unveiled by minister sparks Cadillac debate

A long-awaited domestic vehicle that has been promoted as a "national car" by government officials during election campaign stops, was unveiled Oct. 13, but its resemblance to Cadillac has sparked a debate.   

Turkish Science and Technology Minister Fikri I??k announced Oct. 13 that three prototypes of the first Turkish-made cars had been developed, sharing the first camouflaged photos of the prototypes for the first time with the public. 

"We have been progressing upon a road map over the indigenous car production step by step. We have already produced three prototypes. These have been developed at the research and development center of the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey [TÜB?TAK]. One of them is gasoline-driven, one is an electric car with an extended range, and the last one is an electric car. We hope we'll produce 30-40 vehicles by 2016 to test on open field conditions," he said.

The prototype of the new car
The car in the photos and a video is very much similar to the "Cadillac BLS," a heavily restyled version of the Saab 9-3. 

The model was produced in Sweden from 2007 to 2009, before the production ceased due to poor sales, and Saab went bankrupt soon after the project ended.

The resemblance immediately created a firestorm on social media. The car was dubbed the "national Cadillac" by many Twitter users, with one arguing that "we could even see the Cadillac logo if it had not been camouflaged."  

The interior of the car
In addition to the chassis, the car's interior and front panel design are almost identical with the not-so-popular Cadillac model. From what has been shown, it appears that the domestic car has been produced with the molds of a bankrupt company...