Turkish automotive production, sales soar in December

Turkish automotive production rose 10.3% on-year in December to 135,775 vehicles, driven by a 15.5% rebound in passenger car production to 94,991 cars, Kallanish learns from the Turkish Automotive Manufacturers’ Association (OSD). Commercial vehicle production, however, fell -0.1% to 40,784 units.

Demand for Turkish cars soared in December, with domestic passenger car sales up 16% on-year to 70,829 units, and exports up 10.5% to 71,937. Overall automotive exports increased 6.7% to 106,349 units.

Turkish automotive exports generated $2.5 billion in December, up 3.2% on-year.

In full-year 2019 Turkish automotive production still fell -6.5% on-year to 1.48 million units, with passenger car output down -4.3% to 982,642 units. Turkish domestically-produced passenger car sales fell -3.8% to 157,178 cars. Overall (domestic and imported) passenger car sales declined -20.4% to 387,256 cars. Automotive exports fell -5% to 1.25 million units.

Although it has shown signs of improvement in recent months, demand for cars has reduced significantly due to Turkey’s slowing economy since mid-2018.