The European Union continued to lead as the top market for the Turkish automotive market in the first quarter of this year, as sales have approached nearly $7 billion, constituting over 70% of total shipments in the period, according to a report on Sunday, citing industry data.
The sales to the EU have surged 13% year-over-year to approximately $6.9 billion in the January-March period, according to the data compiled by Anadolu Agency (AA) from Uludağ Automotive Industry Exporters’ Association (OIB) and Turkish Exporters Assembly (TIM).
Meanwhile, total exports of the automotive sector in the same period increased by 4% compared to the same period last year, rising from $9.13 billion to nearly $9.5 billion, according to the data.
The automotive industry, which exported to more than 190 countries, autonomous and free zones in the first quarter, accounted for 16.8% of the country's exports in this period.
When looked at on a country basis, EU countries ranked first in Türkiye's automotive exports in the first three months of the year, with a 72.6% share. Jumping from last year's $6.1 billion, the shipments approached the $7 billion mark, confirming the standing of the bloc as the most important market in automotive exports.
Germany stood at the forefront as the main market for the domestic automotive industry, accounting for close to $1.5 billion of exports in the quarter.
Automotive exports from Türkiye to Germany, which stood at $1.26 billion in the first three months of last year, climbed to $1.49 billion in the same period this year, with an 18% increase.
France, which is again one of the major markets of the automotive sector and ranked second, received automotive goods worth $1.1 billion between January and March, marking a 13% surge year-on-year. France was followed by exports to the U.K., which, although a non-EU market, ranked third, while Spain emerged fourth, being the market where the stunning growth of 68% was achieved.
The exports to Spain rose from $501.5 million to $841.7 million this January to March, versus the same quarter last year.
On the other hand, exports to Italy, which came in fifth on the list of top 10 countries Türkiye exported the most to, declined by 19% to $772.1 million over the same period.
The other five countries that entered the list were Slovenia, Poland, Belgium, Romania and the U.S., respectively.
