The remarkable surge in Türkiye's electric vehicle (EV) market growth becomes evident as October's sales witnessed a significant uptick, propelling the market share of these vehicles to 11.0%, and indicating sales possibly hitting the 60,000 mark by year-end, as reported by Sabah daily on Monday.
According to data from the Automotive Distributors and Mobility Association (ODMD), sales of electric cars last month reached 9,087 units, posting a growth rate of 929%.
In the first 10 months of the year, a total of 43,682 electric cars were sold across the country, as per data.
Furthermore, it is estimated that the electric car market will reach 60,000 units by the end of 2023.
The primary reason for the increase in electric car sales and market share is the introduction of new models, the report of Sabah indicated.
Along with new models, the unprecedented boom in the EV market was backed by the first homegrown vehicle brand Togg, which began its deliveries earlier this year, and the entry of U.S. maker Tesla to the market.
In the last quarter of the year, one of the world's largest electric car manufacturers, the Chinese company BYD also entered the Turkish market.
BYD initially launched the Atto 3 model and aims to trade its 1,500 units by the end of the year. In the first quarter of 2024, BYD plans to introduce the Han and Seal models and has a sales target of 10,000 units for 2024.
During the launch of the Atto 3, Ismail Ergun, the general manager of BYD Türkiye, mentioned that they have encountered significant demand through various communication channels.
He pointed to the high interest in their models with the number of interested individuals exceeding 22,000. He also mentioned that they aim to achieve a market share of 10% or more depending on market conditions.
"We have also introduced BYD Finance for our customers' credit solutions, aiming to provide a quick and secure response to our customers' credit needs. We have started sales with four dealerships, two in Istanbul, and one each in Ankara and Izmir. In 2024, we plan to increase the number of dealerships to over 20," he said.
By the end of 2022, there were 14,552 electric cars in Türkiye. As of the end of September, this rapidly increasing number has further increased to 51,219, a 3.5-fold rise.
According to ODMD's data, 3,567 units of Togg's SUV T10X were sold in October. This figure brings its deliveries since late April to 9,171 units.
Meanwhile, Tesla's estimated sales figure stands at around 10,000 units so far this year.
Overall car sales in Türkiye maintained their record trend last month despite tightening financing conditions, the industry data showed last week, adding to the peaks since the beginning of the year.
