Electric car sales in Turkey increased by 243.9% to 1,073 units in the January-March period of this year compared to the same period last year, while hybrid automobile sales decreased by 17.1% to 11,227.
The total sales of automobiles and light commercial vehicles in Turkey decreased by 23.5% in the January-March period of 2022 and amounted to 152,050, an Anadolu Agency (AA) report said Friday, citing data from the Automotive Distributors Association (ODD).
When the automobile market is evaluated according to the engine type, the decline in the sales of diesel-powered automobiles, whose production is being reduced gradually and is planned to be completely halted in the future, draws attention. Manufacturers offering fewer diesel-powered vehicles to the market compared to previous years is also considered one of the important factors in the decline in diesel sales.
A decrease was also recorded in the sales of automobiles with autogas and hybrid engines. The sales of electric cars, which are expected to replace cars with internal combustion engines in the future, continued the upward trend of recent years.
In the January-March period of 2021, some 98,100 gasoline, 37,726 diesel, 13,537 hybrid, 6,789 autogas and 312 electric cars were sold.
In the January-March period of this year, sales of gasoline cars decreased by 14.6%, diesel car sales by 52.4%, autogas car sales by 58.7% and hybrid car sales by 17.1% compared to the same period of 2021.
In this period, only the sale of electric cars increased.
The share of diesel cars in sales, which was 24.1% in the January-March period last year, decreased to 15.4% this year.
In the said period, the share of gasoline cars increased from 62.7% to 71.7%, while the share of autogas cars decreased from 4.3% to 2.4%.
Meanwhile, Turkey continues its efforts toward electric car transformation.
Most recently, the procedures and principles regarding the establishment of charging units and stations, the operation of the charging network and the stations connected to the charging network, and the provision of charging service were revealed.
According to the "Charging Service Regulation" published in the Official Gazette of the Energy Market Regulatory Authority (EPDK), charging network operation will be carried out within the scope of the license obtained from the EPDK. The license cannot be transferred under any circumstances.
The charging network operator will create a charging network consisting of at least 50 charging units and charging stations in at least five different districts within six months from the effective date of its license.
Industry and Technology Minister Mustafa Varank, during a speech at Ford E-Transit's inauguration ceremony, said that they started a TL 300 million ($20.33 million) grant support program for the establishment of more than 1,500 high-speed charging stations all over Turkey.
