I think Italians are more Turkish than us when it comes to driving cars..
I think Italy has lost its competitive power due to the large number of medium sized local firms (mostly family owned). Consider the Italian shoe sector: nowadays most of them are being closed due to bankruptcy. Large corporations / China-India factor / labor costs and many others..win-win situation..
We won't benefit in the short term producing our own cars..Large corporations are manufacturing thir cars in China now..the question is can we compete with them in the short/long term? The answer is no.. I think we should try to improve what we have at hand right now instead of jumping into a new sector. I strongly believe in the University-Industry collaboration projects which will initiate new ideas and improve/replace the existing technologies(Ex:Aselsan-ODTU). This will not only help companies in terms of technology, but also boost our universities..
Companies such as Vestel/Arcelik/Eczacibasi/Aselsan are already collaborating with various universities, but I think it's not at a satisfying level yet.
If we want to go into new sectors, this is a strategic issue to be planned carefully..
EU? No need for EU to accomplish our goals, let's integrate the good things they have to our society, that's enough.