Türkiye’s automotive production increased by 12% in the January-September period, while automobile production rose by 21% when compared to the same period last year, official data released on Sunday showed.
The country's Automotive Manufacturers Association (OSD) said total automotive production surpassed the 1 million mark and stood at 1,074,155 units in the first nine months, including 687,817 units of automobiles.
When combined with tractor production, total production reached 1,117,620 units. In the first nine months of the year, commercial vehicle production decreased by 1% compared to the same period last year, while light commercial vehicle production decreased by 4%.
Production in the heavy commercial vehicle category meanwhile increased by 26%.
Meanwhile, the sector's total sales in the first nine months of the year increased by 63% to 894,663 units when compared to the same period last year.
Car sales in the first nine months soared by 67%, reaching 666,890 units. Backed by a significant boom in electric car sales, the total auto sales this year according to market predictions are poised to hit the 1 million mark.
On a quantity basis, the total automotive exports in the first nine months of the year surged by 7% versus the same period last year, reaching 733,956 units.
During this period, car exports increased by 20%, while commercial vehicle exports were down by 11%.
According to the data from the Turkish Exporters Assembly (TIM), the total automotive industry's exports maintained its top position in sectoral exports with a 16% increase in the January-September period.
Meanwhile, according to the figures from the Bursa-based Uludağ Automotive Industry Exporters’ Union, total automotive exports during the same period increased by 16% to reach $26.2 billion (TL 728.38 billion) compared to the same period in 2022.
Local carmakers shipped over $8 billion worth of passenger cars in the first nine months to some 110 countries, autonomous regions and free zones, according to the data.
Throughout this period, the share of passenger cars constituted 31.3% of the total exports of the automotive industry.
France was the largest market for Turkish passenger car producers. Shipments to this country rose by 60.95% to reach $1.52 billion. Passenger cars worth $948.7 million were sold to the Western European country in the same period last year.
The United Kingdom came second as it purchased $848.8 million in the first nine months of 2023 from local companies, pointing to 5.7% rise when compared to the first nine months of 2022.
Total foreign sales to France and the United Kingdom, which reached $2.38 billion therefore constituted 29.61% of overall passenger car exports.
Türkiye's passenger car exports to Spain, the third largest export destination, grew by 32% to reach $839.1 million. According to the data, Italy ranked fourth with a 37% increase on an annual basis between January and September, while Poland stood fifth, with a 32% increase.
The list of top 10 countries Türkiye exported passenger cars to included Germany, Slovenia, Belgium, Israel and Bulgaria. In the same period, notable increases in exports to Algeria, Kazakhstan and Libya were observed as well.
