Turkey's Vehicle Production Drops by 54%

Turkish newspaper "Zaman" said that Turkey witnessed a 54% drop in auto production last May, year-on-year basis.

Zaman pointed out that the production and export statistics of the Automobile Industry Association (OSD) and the private market for May and the first five months of the year 2020 indicate that production and exports have dropped significantly by nearly half, while exports to the U.K. and Italy dropped by 28% and 34%, respectively.

In May 2019, 136,513 cars were manufactured in Turkey, yet, this percentage dropped by about 54% in the same month of the year to record 63,145 cars. Also, car exports recorded a decline by about 60% to record 31,846 units only.

Productions drops significantly

A month earlier, the automotive market in Turkey shrank by 7.6%. In total, the first five months of this year saw car production, except agricultural tractors, drop by 34% compared to the comparative period last year, which recorded 415,454 units.

Car exports fell by 38% to 331,391 cars, and the average production capacity in the auto industry was about 50%.

Last month, Turkey's motor vehicle sales totaled 33,245 units, falling by 2.1% year-on-year basis. In the same month, passenger car sales totaled 25,073 units, down 7.6%.

Meantime, in the first five months of the current year, Turkey's motor vehicle exports totaled units, down 38.4%, while passenger car exports dropped by 34.7% to 232,781 units.

In the same period, the country exported trucks, dropped 45.2% year-on-year. Also, revenues from total motor vehicle and component exports declined by 33% to $8.95 billion, while the revenues from passenger car exports totaled $3.47 billion, falling by 29%.

In May, Turkey's total motor vehicle imports amounted to 17,068 units, increasing by 0.3% year-on-year, while passenger car imports totaled 14,297 units, up 2%.

In the January-May period, the country's total  vehicle imports amounted to 110,305 units, rising by 29.7%, while passenger car imports totaled 93,240 units, increasing by 35.9%, compared to the same period last year.

It is noteworthy that Turkey manufactures Tipo by Fiat, the C-HR by Toyota, and Honda Motor's Civic, and is expected to make first domestic car, an electric SUV by 2022.