Turkish auto market Europe’s sixth-largest

Taylan Özgür Dil-ISTANBUL  

Türkiye ranked as Europe’s sixth-largest auto market in the first eight months of 2026, with 564,241 vehicle sales, according to data released by the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA).

Europe-wide new car sales rose 5.8 percent year-on-year during the January-August period to 9.19 million units.

Despite remaining one of Europe’s largest automotive markets, Türkiye diverged from the broader regional trend. The country’s passenger market contracted 13.78 percent from a year earlier, making it the worst-performing market among Europe’s 10 largest automobile markets in terms of sales growth.

Türkiye also became Europe’s sixth-largest market for fully electric vehicles (EV), with sales totaling 105,255 units in the first eight months of the year. Electric vehicles accounted for approximately 18.7 percent of all passenger car sales in the country during the period.

Across Europe, battery-electric vehicle sales surged 38.8 percent year-on-year to 2.13 million units in January-August. However, unlike the broader European market, electric vehicle sales in Türkiye fell 12 percent during the same period.

Germany remained Europe’s largest automobile market with 1.97 million vehicle sales, followed by the U.K. with 1.39 million units, Italy with 1.13 million, France with 1.08 million and Spain with 818,000 units.

Germany also led Europe’s EV market with 515,545 sales, followed by the U.K. with 355,748, France with 322,099, Belgium with 108,879 and Denmark with 106,265 units.

Türkiye ranked sixth with 105,255 fully electric vehicle sales.