Auto sales recovers in March after two months of contraction
ISTANBUL
Sales of passenger cars and light commercial vehicles increased by 6.4 percent year-on-year to 116,900 units, after declining 14 percent and 14.4 percent in January and February, respectively.
The passenger car market, which contracted in the previous two months, expanded by 5.5 percent compared to March 2024 to nearly 91,000 units, according to data from the Automotive Distributors’ and Mobility Association (ODMD).
Last month, more than 25,000 light commercial vehicles were sold, marking a 10.2 percent increase annually.
In the January-March period, the combined sales of passenger cars and light commercial vehicles declined by 6.5 percent year-on-year to 276,284 units.
Passenger car sales in the first three months plunged 4.1 percent from the same period of 2024 to 223,793, said the association.
From January to March, 29,594 electric vehicles were sold, pointing to a 78.8 percent year-on-year increase. EVs accounted for 13.2 percent of all vehicle sales during this period.
Pure electric vehicle sales surged 106 percent annually to 29,099 units, while extended-range EV sales declined 79.4 percent to 495 units.
Domestic EV brand Togg delivered a total of 6,788 vehicles in the first three months of 2025, while U.S. carmaker Tesla sold 3,410 EVs in the Turkish market.
