The Turkish automotive market is expected to achieve sales in a range of 1.25 million to 1.3 million units this year if momentum persists, according to Ali Haydar Bozkurt, CEO of Toyota Türkiye Marketing and Sales Inc., on Sunday.
Speaking to Anadolu Agency (AA), Bozkurt evaluated the trends in the domestic auto market, including the sales and the recent change to the special consumption tax (ÖTV).
He said that in the first seven months of 2025, the market volume exceeded expectations and outpaced last year’s performance, adding: "If this pace continues, the market is heading toward between 1.25 million and 1.3 million units."
From January through July, total auto sales, including those of passenger cars and light commercial vehicles, jumped by 6.5% compared to the same period last year, reaching 715,695 units, industry data shows. In July alone, sales increased by nearly 15% on an annual basis.
Referring to the ÖTV change, Bozkurt said that everyone had been waiting to see how the market would react. "So far, we have not observed any negative reaction. At this rate, it would not be surprising if August also surpasses 100,000 units," he said.
The monthly car sales so far this year have averaged 100,000 units or more.
He, however, said that following the new ÖTV regulation, customer preferences will be shifting.
"Until now, most of the best-selling models, imports and luxury segment cars were squeezed into the highest ÖTV bracket. Now, with the introduction of 70%-100% brackets, domestically produced models have gained an advantage starting at 70%," he explained.
"Imports have largely moved into the 80%-90% band, while luxury models are firmly in the 100% bracket. Everyone analyzed this new picture, and we are observing that customers are turning toward models that offer them a tax advantage," he added.
Bozkurt also predicted that in the remaining five months, models with lower ÖTV rates are more likely to be preferred.
Türkiye recently revised the special consumption tax on some cars in a move the government said was primarily aimed at helping reduce the current account deficit.
The change, made under a law protecting the value of the Turkish currency, revised tax base thresholds and rates for certain fossil fuel-powered passenger cars and some hybrid vehicles that use both fossil fuels and electric engines.
Special consumption tax rates were reduced by 5-10 percentage points for some vehicles, while for some other models, rates were increased by 10 to 20 points.
Moreover, Bozkurt also mentioned that Toyota had increased sales by 54% in the first seven months, surpassing 50,000 units. He also said they expected to have record sales of some 85,000 units this year.
"We ended last year with 61,000 units, and this year we will reach 85,000. We could have gone 17,000-20,000 higher, but since we couldn’t obtain the volumes we wanted for certain models, we will close at around 85,000," he noted.
He also pointed out that one of the drivers of growth for Toyota this year was robust sales in the commercial vehicles division.
"With strong demand, we boosted commercial sales by 98% compared with the same period last year. Going forward, we expect 20% to 25% of our sales to come from commercial vehicles," said Bozkurt.
