Our Story

This journey was set off by the Founding Rector of Near East University, Dr. Suat İrfan Günsel, with Suat Günsel's childhood dream. My father Suat Günsel's interest in automobiles started at a young age. As a child, he used to make automobile models from clay and dreamed that he would establish an automobile factory in the future and watch couples ride in open-top cars. However, because of the country's conditions, this love of cars turned into establishing a museum, maintaining and exhibiting classic cars in the museum. Our work in the museum has revived the dream of producing our own automobile. Our passion for the automobile combined with our innovative perspective gave us a strong inspiration.

On the other hand, our first electric car trials, which we developed within the body of Near East University, achieved great success in global competitions between universities. R25, the first solar-powered vehicle we developed in 2014, won its first championship at the Sasol Solar Challenge South Africa races held in the Republic of South Africa the same year. The second electric car we developed, the RA27, covered 1,630 km in the Republic of South Africa in the race held in 2016.
The striking innovation created by electric vehicles, which started to rise all over the world, revealed that the right time has come to produce our own automobile. Our previous experiences and knowledge also formed the basis of GÜNSEL.

We carry out our business with our extensive human resources, R&D and facilities for mass production. We completed the first phase of construction, which includes the head office and the first part of the production facility, at the end of 2019. We have started our second phase of construction, the devices to be used in this complex have arrived on our island, we will be opening it very soon.

Human resources are the keystone of our business. We work with bright young people who have just graduated from both our universities and schools all over Anatolia. We turn young people, who we have the opportunity to take great responsibilities within a short time, into automotive professionals.

Therefore, our GÜNSEL has meanings far beyond a project implemented with an economic perspective and a commercial investment logic. We work with 1200 global suppliers, including the largest suppliers of the world's automotive industry. While opening our country to the world, we are leading a transformation that creates new opportunities in the energy, automotive main industry and automotive sub-industry in the economic environment of Northern Cyprus. On the other hand, we are working to make the Turkish world's voice much louder in the world automotive market...

That is why GÜNSEL belongs to the Turkic world!

Chairman of the Board of GÜNSEL
Prof. Dr. İrfan Suat GÜNSEL

This journey had started with the childhood dream of our Founding Rector Dr. Suat Günsel. My father Dr. Suat Günsel, as a child, used to make automobile models from clay soil and dreamed of establishing an automobile factory in the future and watching couples ride in open-top cars. However,  because of the country's conditions, his love of cars turned into establishing a museum at the beginning, maintaining and exhibiting classic cars in the museum. Our work in the museum has revived the dream of producing our own automobile brand. Our passion for the automobile combined with our innovative perspective gave us a strong inspiration.

The disruptive innovation created by electric vehicles, which started to rise all over the world, showed that the right time has come to produce our own automobiles. Our previous experiences and knowledge also formed the basis of GÜNSEL.

We continue our work with a focus on human resources, R&D and facilities for mass production. We completed the first phase of construction, which includes the head office and the first part of the production facility, at the end of 2019. On February 20, 2020, we launched with a magnificent organization the first prototypes of GÜNSEL B9, produced in yellow, red and blue colors, which symbolize the land, flag of the TRNC and the Blue Homeland Mediterranean. Right after, we opened our showroom in Dereboyu, Nicosia.

We had the pleasure of meeting with Turkey at MUSIAD Expo 2020 held in Istanbul in November 2020. GÜNSEL was welcomed with great admiration in London, where it met the world by taking its first step towards Continental Europe on 14-16 December 2021 by participating in the London EV Show, the electric automobile fair held in London.

Human resources are the keystone of our business. We work with bright young people who have just graduated from both our universities and schools all over Anatolia. On the other hand, we are transforming our vocational high school youth, for whom we opened our doors, into automotive professionals by providing them with the opportunity to take great responsibilities in a short time, with the "My Job is in My Hand" project, which we started within the body of GÜNSEL Academy.

Thus, our GÜNSEL has meanings far beyond a project implemented with an economic perspective and a commercial investment logic. We work with approximately 1,200 global suppliers, including the largest suppliers of the world's automotive industry. While opening our country to the world, we are leading a transformation that creates new opportunities in the energy, automotive industry and automotive sub-industry in the economy of our country, Northern Cyprus, and on the other hand, we are working to make the Turkish world's voice much louder in the world automotive market...

That is why GÜNSEL belongs to the Turkish world!

Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Near East Conglomerate
Prof. Dr. İrfan Suat GÜNSEL

GÜNSEL Mühendisleri


The Future of the Automobile: GÜNSEL
New technologies, the changing needs of the world and people are leading to radical changes in the automotive industry, which has a history of 150 years. The electric car revolution has already begun to create a completely different automobile world. The first studies that formed the basis of GÜNSEL, the domestic and national car of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, started with the visionary approach of Near East University and the GÜNSEL Family, when the first hints of this change began to appear.

For the first time in 2016, the concept model of GÜNSEL's first model, the 100% electric B9, was presented to consumers. In the next period, while the works for the prototype of GÜNSEL B9 continued, investments were started for the GÜNSEL Production Facilities established on the Near East University Campus.

On February 20, 2020, the first launch of the first prototypes of GÜNSEL B9, produced in yellow, red and blue colors symbolizing the land of the TRNC, its flag and the Blue Homeland Mediterranean, was held with a magnificent organization. The concept model of GÜNSEL's second model, J9, was also presented to the public at the same event. The opening of our GÜNSEL Production Facilities and our Showroom in Nicosia Dereboyu was also held in February 2020.

In November 2020, the first launch and test drives of GÜNSEL outside the TRNC took place at MUSIAD Expo 2020 in Istanbul. B9 made a big impact in Turkey and the world with its appearance and performance.

The birth of GÜNSEL as an idea, developed by Turkish engineers and designers throughout 1.2 million hours of effort, goes back much further. Near East University Founding Rector Dr. Suat Günsel's dream of producing the first domestic car of the TRNC, which started as his childhood dream, turned into a vision over time and embodied over the years with the experience, creativity and efforts of the Near East Enterprises, now stands before you as a "dream that comes true"!

What did we do?