ISTANBUL- Turkey's Dogan Trend Otomotiv is close to signing a memorandum with China's SAIC Motor for a plant in Turkey to build combustion and hybrid-engined cars, CEO Kagan Dagtekin said on Monday in reply to questions from Reuters.

Turkey plans to impose a 40% additional tariff on imports of vehicles from China, a presidential decision published in the Official Gazette showed on Saturday. The additional tariff is set at a minimum of $7,000 per vehicle. The decision will be effective from July 7.

Electric as well as combustion engined car imports from China currently make up about 8% of local sales, data from Turkey's Automotive Distributors' and Mobility Association shows.

The CEO of Dogan Trend, a local distributor for SAIC’s MG marquee, said the hikes would have been preferable if they were announced in step with the EU, which is expected to disclose its own plans for tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles.

(Reporting by Can Sezer, writing by Burcu Karakas; editing by Hugh Lawson and Jason Neely)