Turkish auto market narrows in January-November

By Gokhan Ergocun

ISTANBUL

Turkey saw over a half-million car and light commercial vehicle sales this January to November, the Automotive Distributors' Association (ODD) said on Tuesday.

A total of 543,231 passenger cars and light commercial vehicles were sold in the first 11 months, down from 819,954 year-on-year -- a drop of 33.75 percent -- according to a report issued by the association.

The number of automobiles sold reached 425,478 in the 11-month period, down 31.71 percent from the same period last year, the ODD said in a statement. This figure was 623,065 last year.

The light commercial vehicle market dropped 40.19 percent, standing at 117,753 in the period, compared to 196,889 in January to November 2017.

The most preferred vehicle type in Turkey at the end of November was sedans (50.1 percent), followed by hatchbacks (24.3 percent) and SUVs (21.6 percent).

Data showed that Turkish buyers preferred vans the most (68.59 percent), followed by light trucks (12.41 percent), pickups (10.23 percent) and minibuses (10.14 percent) in the light commercial vehicle market.

In January to November, 131 electric cars and 3,582 hybrid cars were sold in Turkey's passenger car market.
The report showed that a total of 23,028 automobiles and light commercial vehicles were sold in September, down 67.73 percent from sales in the same period of last year.

Some 17,595 passenger cars and 5,433 light commercial vehicles were sold in September, falling 67.06 percent and 69.7 percent, respectively, compared to September 2017.