The automotive industry, one of the driving forces of the Turkish economy and the leader in the country's exports for the last 12 years, set two new records in November. It saw exports increase by 5 percent to reach $2.77 billion, achieving the highest November figure to date, according to the Uludağ Automotive Industry Exporters' Association (OİB). Overall, industry exports reached $29.1 billion from January to November this year, marking a 12 percent rise. In doing so, it surpassed the export record of $28.5 billion reached in 2017, one month before year-end.

"We expect our automotive industry to close the year with an export figure above the targeted $31 billion. We will crown our success as an export leader for the 13th time in a row," OİB Chairman Baran Çelik said.

According to Çelik, in November, private car and sub-industry exports were almost the same as last year, while bus-minibus-midibus and tow truck exports increased by double digits.

Also, exports to the European Union (EU) countries increased by 8 percent, while exports to African countries soared by 33 percent. In the 11-month January-November period, private car exports went up by 6 percent, while exports of automotive supply industry, motor vehicles for the transportation of goods and bus-minibus-midibus exports saw a double-digit rise.

On the basis of product groups, automotive sub-industry exports increased by 1 percent to $915 million in November, while private car exports increased by two percent to $1.1 billion. Also, the export of motor vehicles for the transportation of goods decreased by 5 percent to $448 million and the export of bus-minibus-midibus surged by 29 percent to $175 million.

Exports to Germany, which is the largest market in the automotive subindustry, fell by 1 percent, while exports to France and Italy, which are also among major markets, declined by 7 percent each and exports to Romania fell by 19 percent. In contrast, exports to the U.S. rose by 13 percent, to Algeria by 277 percent, to Morocco by 28 percent and to the Netherlands and Slovenia by 16 percent each. As far as private cars go, exports to Italy, the largest market in private cars, decreased by 19 percent, to the U.S. by 32 percent, to Morocco by 38 percent and to Israel by 77 percent. On the other hand, private car exports to the U.K. soared by 22 percent, to Germany by 17 percent, to Spain and Slovenia by 48 percent each, and to the Netherlands by 20 percent.

In terms of vehicles for the transportation of goods, exports to the U.K., the largest market in this regard, plunged by 24 percent, while exports to other major markets of Italy, France, the U.S. and Spain fell by 24 percent, 18 percent, 22 percent and 30 percent, respectively. On the other hand, exports to Slovenia increased by 57 percent, to Ireland by 151 percent and to Belgium by 19 percent in the same category. On a country-to-country basis, exports to Germany, the largest market, rose by 9 percent to $410 million in November. In the same month, exports to France decreased by three percent to $256 million and to Italy by 13 percent to $246 million.