Turkish auto sales declined sharply in May, posting nearly a 23% drop compared to the same period last year, the data from a leading association showed on Tuesday.

Sales of passenger cars and light commercial vehicles in the country fell 22.55% year-over-year in May to 83,442 units, the Automotive Distributors and Mobility Association (ODMD) said.

In May alone, passenger car sales were down 23.19% to 65,386, while vehicles and light commercial vehicle sales decreased 20.13% to 18,056 units.

The drop in last month's sales also weighed on cumulative sales in the January-March period, as the number of sold passenger cars and light commercial vehicles decreased 7.4% to 453,138 units, according to the association.

Passenger car sales shrank by 9.65% to 356,256 units, while light commercial vehicle sales rose slightly by 1.94% to 96,882 units.

SUVs remained the most dominant body type, accounting for nearly 65% percent of passenger car sales with 230,921 units in the first five months. Sedans followed, holding a 19.8% share with 70,396 units sold.

In January-May, gasoline cars were the top choice of consumers with 148,075 units sold, holding a 41.6%. However, the total number of units sold was down compared to 185,248 sold in the same period last year.

On the other hand, hybrid cars held 33.4% share with some 119,022 units sold, up from nearly 114,000 sold in January-May of 2025.

EV sales up in first 5 months

Electric car sales accounted for 18.6% of total sales in the same period, with some 66,353 units. Diesel sales were at 20,683 units (5.8% share), while LPG car sales were limited at 2,123 units (0.6% share).

Like this, the data revealed that despite the slowdown in the momentum in the auto market in May, EV sales continued to rise when looking at five-month data, as they increased by around 10.5% compared to the same period last year. The sales stood at some 60,045 units last year.

In May, however, EV sales dropped by 32.6% on an annual basis to 11,461 units, representing a 17.5% share of total sales for the month.

Domestic EV maker Togg delivered some 3,505 units last month, while major global brands such as Tesla and BYD recorded only 370 and 152 sales in the month.