Diesel cars are losing their shine to Turkish consumers
ISTANBUL
The share of diesel cars on Turkish roads fell to 31.7 percent as of January, with the green transformation and sustainable efforts shifting automotive trends in Türkiye.
The ratio eased from 34.1 percent in 2024, according to data from the Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK), and Türkiye’s Automotive Distributors Association (ODMD), compiled by state-run Anadolu Agency.
As of January, the number of registered cars was 16.3 million, 5.6 million of which were diesel in 2024.
In 2020, the share of diesel cars was 38.3 percent, which fell to 37.6 percent in 2021, 36.9 percent in 2022 and 35.6 percent in 2023.
ODMD data showed that diesel car sales fell 60 percent in the last four years.
Electric vehicles (EVs) came into prominence in recent years, as the share of diesel cars among all cars on Turkish roads gradually decreased in the last four years, as strong demand for EVs replaced diesel cars in the production lines of automotive firms.
EV sales surged 45.9 percent last year compared to 2023 to reach 105,315, capturing a share of 10.7 percent in all vehicle sales in Türkiye, according to ODMD data.
Sales of diesel vehicles plunged 8.6 percent annually in 2024 to 95,985 units, pointing to a market share of 9.8 percent. Last year, a total of 1.24 million passenger cars and light commercial vehicles were sold in Türkiye, a 0.5 percent increase from 2023.
In January this year, the country’s EV market expanded by 56.7 percent year-on-year to 6,225 or 11.1 percent of all vehicle sales.
Last month, diesel vehicle sales declined more than 28 percent annually to 5,767 units.
The EU approved an initiative to ban the sales of new gasoline and diesel cars, starting in 2035, as member states approved the legislation would impose strict carbon emission standards on cars and light commercial vehicles from that point.
The German cities of Stuttgart and Hamburg banned older diesel vehicles from entering certain areas in 2019, while restrictions on those cars are also in place in the Norwegian capital of Oslo due to low-emission policies, as Norway is set to become the first country to ban combustion engine cars from the new car market.
The Turkish auto market is also shifting in parallel with global developments.
