EU is Turkish auto sector's main export market

EU is Turkish auto sector’s main export market

The Turkish automotive sector, regarded as the locomotive of the Turkish economy, shipped nearly two-thirds of its total exports to the European Union (EU) in the first eight months of 2005. 68.2 percent of the Turkish automotive sector's exports ended up in EU member countries through August of this year. The percentage rises to 71.9 percent when candidate countries Romania and Bulgaria are added. The EU accounted for $5.72 billion of the total $8.38 billion of automotive exports. Among the EU countries, exports to Germany, Italy, France, Spain and the UK exceeded half of the total exports with $4.21 billion. The Turkish automotive sector exported to 167 countries and 13 free zones in the first eight months of the year.