Turkey’s car imports to hit record

Emre ÖZPEYNİRCİ ISTANBUL - Hürriyet

Automotive imports reached over 523,000 units in the first 11 months of the year, accounting for almost 70 percent of total sales in the domestic market. REUTERS photo

While Turkey’s automotive sector’s production showed an increase, imports are poised to hit a record by the end of this year. Automotive imports reached over 523,000 units in the first 11 months of the year, accounting for almost 70 percent of total sales in the domestic market.

The automotive sector produced around 1 million units between January and November, marking a 6 percent rise from the same period a year earlier, while the produced automobile numbers rose to 583,000 with a 9 percent increase, according to figures revealed by the Automotive Manufacturers Association (OSD) yesterday. The production figures showed that they would surpass the previous year’s total production (1.1 million), but it still seems difficult to beat the record of 2011.

Exports made up 72 percent of total production in the first 11 months of this year, while the rate was 65 percent last year and 67 percent in 2011. It shows that the automotive production grew based on exports in Turkey. Automotive exports reached 759,000 units in the first eleven months with a 14 percent year-on-year rise, and the automobile exports reached to 442,000 with a 17 percent rise. Automotive exports hit a record in 2008 with 920,000 units that made up 79 percent of total production. The sector needs to export around 148,000 units to hit a new record this year.

While exports’ share in total production rose, imports’ share in domestic markets also showed a hike.

The imports reached 523,000 by surpassing the exports by the end of eleven months; the automobile imports reached 438,000 with a 26 percent increase year-on-year. Some 69 percent of the sold automobiles in the domestic markets were imports. While 757,000 automobiles were sold, 523,000 out of them were import vehicles.