General Motors (GM) has officially returned to the Turkish market after many years, following Türkiye’s decision last year to revise customs duties on automotive imports.
In cooperation with GM Europe, distributor TUROTO has initially introduced five luxury-segment models from the Cadillac, Chevrolet and GMC brands for sale in Türkiye.
Vehicles manufactured in the United States are first homologated in Europe by GM Europe before being offered to Turkish customers under TUROTO’s network.
Last year, Türkiye standardized customs duties on automotive imports from countries outside the European Union and free trade agreement partners. As a result, the total customs tax on internal combustion passenger cars imported from the US decreased from 60 percent to 35 percent.
The company’s return is regarded as a significant milestone, as American automotive brands that have been absent from the Turkish market for many years are once again being officially offered for sale.
“We started with five dealerships located in Istanbul, Ankara, İzmir and Konya. We plan to expand to eight dealerships in the short term and to 10 dealerships in the medium term. Nearly 70 percent of the vehicles in the first shipment have already been sold,” said TUROTO CEO Turan Mutlu.
“Demand has been quite strong, and there is already interest in the next shipment as well,” he added.
Jean-Pierre Diernaz, General Manager of GM Europe, said Türkiye is a strategically important market for the company due to strong consumer interest in premium vehicles.
Luxury models from the Cadillac, Chevrolet and GMC brands are sold at prices ranging from 11.5 million Turkish Liras (some $248,000) to 47.5 million liras.
