According to the statistics released by the Turkish Automotive distributor Association (ODD), in the first four months of this year the domestic passenger car market shrank by 20 percent compared to the same period last year, with sales declining to 143,181 units. In April, domestic sales of passenger car totaled 45,645 units, down 15.2 percent compared to April 2011.
In the first four months, sales of light commercial vehicles declined by 33 percent compared to the first four months of last year, falling to 55,521 units. In April, sales of light commercial vehicles totaled 17,304 units, falling 27.5 percent year on year.
The association noted that the declines in vehicle sales in the January-April period were due to the increase in the Special Consumption Tax (ÖTV) imposed in Turkey on a variety of goods, rising prices of vehicles, high interest rates and sluggish economic activity. Meanwhile, the ODD has forecast that total sales in the Turkish automotive sector in 2012 will be in the range of 775,000-825,000 units.