Türkiye remains Europe’s 6th largest car market despite sharp sales decline

Taylan Özgür Dil-ISTANBUL

Türkiye remained Europe’s sixth-largest passenger car market in the January-September period of 2026 despite a sharp contraction in sales, according to data from the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA) and the Automotive Distributors and Mobility Association (ODMD).

Passenger car sales in Türkiye fell 15.45 percent year-on-year to 627,977 units in the first nine months of the year, placing the country behind Germany, the United Kingdom, Italy, France and Spain in Europe’s market rankings.

Türkiye also ranked sixth in Europe for battery electric vehicle sales, with 120,329 units sold during the period. However, unlike most major European markets, both passenger car and electric vehicle sales declined.

The European car market, including the EU, EFTA countries and the United Kingdom, expanded 6.3 percent year-on-year to 10.56 million units in the first nine months of 2026 despite high energy prices and economic uncertainty.

Germany remained Europe’s largest car market, with sales rising 5.3 percent to 2.22 million units. The United Kingdom followed with 1.74 million units, ahead of Italy with 1.27 million, France with 1.23 million and Spain with 912,059 units.

While all of the five largest European markets recorded growth, Türkiye posted the steepest decline among Europe’s 10 largest passenger car markets.

In the battery electric vehicle segment, Türkiye retained its sixth-place ranking, selling 120,329 units between January and September and outperforming markets such as Norway, the Netherlands, Italy and Spain.

Germany led electric vehicle sales with 604,144 units, followed by the United Kingdom with 454,947 and France with 387,342. Belgium ranked ahead of Türkiye with 125,220 units, while Denmark recorded 124,049 units.

However, sales trends diverged sharply from those in other major markets. Battery electric vehicle sales increased 58.1 percent in Germany, 79.1 percent in France and 30.2 percent in the United Kingdom, while Türkiye recorded a 9.1 percent decline.

As a result, Türkiye was the only market among Europe’s top 10 electric vehicle markets to post a contraction in sales.

Europe’s shift toward electrification also accelerated during the period. In EU countries, the market share of battery electric vehicles rose to 22.7 percent from 16.1 percent a year earlier. Hybrid vehicles became the most preferred powertrain with a 36.3 percent share, while plug-in hybrids reached 10.1 percent.

By contrast, the combined market share of gasoline and diesel cars declined to 28.2 percent from 36.9% percent in the same period of the previous year.

Despite remaining Europe’s sixth-largest market for both passenger cars and electric vehicles, Türkiye faces the risk of being excluded from the EU’s proposed “Made in EU” plan.

The initiative, backed by Germany and France, has continued to draw criticism from manufacturers. Most recently, Ola Källenius, chief executive of Mercedes-Benz, warned that local production requirements could increase costs across the automotive industry.

“A modern automobile consists of thousands of parts sourced from different regions of the world,” Källenius said. “You are creating resilience, which is a good thing, but you are also pushing costs higher. It is a matter of balance.”