Turkey’s automotive industry, which has been the country’s export leader on a sectoral basis for 15 years, made exports worth $2.4 billion in August, according to official data.
A statement made by the Uludağ Automotive Industry Exporters' Association (OIB) Sunday showed the automotive industry increased its foreign sales by 57% in August compared to the same period of the previous year and accounted for a 12.8% share in Turkey's total exports.
The sector, which increased its exports by 29% in the first eight months of the year compared to the January-August period of 2020, has made $18.8 billion in foreign sales so far this year.
In August, Germany took in the lion’s share of the sector’s exports with an increase of 23% that made the value of the sales $311.2 million. Germany was followed by the United Kingdom, which became a target market of all sectors after the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) was signed in December last year. Exports to the U.K. were recorded as $297.4 million, a jump of 211%.
Following in third was France with an increase of 76% and exports of $260 million. Slovenia and Italy rounded out the top five, with Slovenia seeing a 174% increase and $185.6 million in foreign sales, and Italy registering an increase of 53% and $179 million in exports.
Exports of the "supply industry" increased by 31% to $956 million in August. Exports of "passenger cars" increased by 61% to $653 million and the exports of "motor vehicles for transporting goods" increased by 149% to $592 million. Last month, sales of "bus-minibuses-midibuses" abroad increased by 47% to $117.5 million.
Demand for passenger cars increased in European countries as many have started to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Compared to the same month of the previous year, passenger car exports in August jumped across all the major European markets. Those markets include: Germany (89%), France (123%), the U.K. (204%), Slovenia (88%), Italy (30%), Spain (35%) and Poland (64%).
The sector’s exports to the European Union, which is the largest market based on the country group, increased by 49% in August and reached $1.52 billion, while the share of EU countries in total automotive exports was 62.8%.
In August, exports increased by 162% to other European countries and 47% to African countries.
OIB Chairperson Baran Çelik, whose views were included in the statement, said that the holiday periods had a positive effect on the August figures.
“With the increase in foreign demand for passenger cars, we achieved the highest August export in our history," he said. "We achieved double-digit export growth in all product groups."
