According to the statistics released by the Turkish Automotive Distributors Association (ODD), in the first 10 months of this year the domestic passenger car and light vehicle market shrank by 12.2 percent compared to the same period last year, with sales declining to 590,651 units. In October, domestic sales of passenger cars and light vehicles totaled 59,983 units, down 13.6 percent compared to October 2011.
In the first 10 months, passenger car sales in Turkey totaled 423,057 units, falling by 7.95 percent compared to the first 10 months of last year, while sales of light commercial vehicles declined by 21.4 percent to 167,594 units, both on year-on-year basis. In October alone, sales of passenger cars fell by 8.6 percent to 43,440 units, while light commercial vehicle sales totaled 16,498 units, falling by 24.7 percent year on year.
The association noted that the increase in the Special Consumption Tax (ÖTV) and slowed economic activities continued to cause a decline in vehicle sales in the January-October period. Meanwhile, news about a possible further increase in ÖTV boosted sales of passenger cars in September, with some buyers bringing forward their purchases from October. The ODD also noted that there were less working days in October this year due to the holidays.
The ODD forecast that total sales in the Turkish automotive sector in 2012 will amount to 815,000 units, with a 10.5 percent contraction.