Türkiye's automotive sector is seeking to build on its peak in 2023 and achieve a new all-time high in exports this year, according to a senior industry official on Monday.
The traditional leader in Türkiye's outbound shipment made $35 billion (TL 1,080 billion) worth of shipments last year, compared to nearly $31 billion in shipments in 2022, according to the Uludağ Automotive Industry Exporters' Association (OIB).
That figure is sought to be lifted to $39 billion, said Baran Çelik, the head of the board of directors of OIB.
The earlier peak was recorded in 2018, at $32 billion, before the coronavirus pandemic lowered the figure to $25.5 billion in 2020.
"2023 was a year in which we once again broke the record and reached a significant value of $35 billion in exports, making us the sector with the highest exports in Türkiye," Çelik told Anadolu Agency (AA).
The sector has been the export leader for 17 out of the last 18 years, except for 2022, he said, before regaining the leadership in 2023.
Up to 68% of the automotive goods are shipped to the European Union, Türkiye's biggest export market, according to Çelik.
"When you include non-EU countries geographically within the market, it reaches a market size of over 80%. Of course, the largest market among these is Germany, followed by other major European countries," he said.
"If we look at the top 10 markets we export to, eight of them are in the European region. In fact, if you include Russia in the European region, 9 of them are European countries."
Exports in January saw a 3% increase year-over-year to $2.8 billion, which Çelik says reinforces the achievability of the $39 billion goal he says isn't "just a standalone target," but "emerged as a figure backed by data."
"Unless there is a significant deviation, a major conflict or a disaster ... we anticipate that this year we will close with around $39 billion in exports, maintaining our position as the export leader," he added.
Expanding reach
Çelik reaffirmed Europe's importance for the industry but emphasized the aim for diversification and growth in new markets.
"There are significant export demands in the Gulf countries and the North Africa region, and we are conducting special studies for these regions," the OIB chair said.
He also added a delegation of 23 companies that visited Morocco earlier this month.
Çelik said North America has also been an important market but said they could not yet achieve the desired results in South America.
"In recent years, with our Ministry of Trade, we have determined various strategies for distant geographies and, in parallel, we organize more than 10 events covering distant geographies," he noted.
"We organize national participation fairs, trade delegations and procurement delegations. We have product development (PD) activities and we have 18 companies in it. We organize various procurement and trade delegations with these companies. Our activities targeting distant countries actually demonstrate our focus on those markets."
Çelik also stressed the industry's determination to increase engagement with China.
"Despite China being an important competitor and threat to us, we also see it as a potential market due to being a major market in many product groups in that region. In this regard, while maintaining the high rate of exports to the European region, we are intensely focused on new markets to be added without incurring any numerical loss."