According to the statistics released by the Turkish Automotive Distributors Association (ODD), in the first nine months of this year the domestic passenger car and light vehicle market shrank by 12.05 percent compared to the same period last year, with sales declining to 530,713 units. In September, domestic sales of passenger cars and light vehicles totaled 69,629 units, up 15.8 percent compared to September 2011.
In the first nine months, passenger car sales in Turkey totaled 379,617 units, falling by 7.9 percent compared to the first nine months of last year, while sales of light commercial vehicles declined by 21 percent to 151,096 units, both on year-on-year basis. In September alone, sales of passenger cars rose by 23.5 percent to 49,360 units, while light commercial vehicle sales totaled 20,269 units, rising slightly by 0.5 percent year on year.
The association noted that the increase in the Special Consumption Tax (ÖTV) and the slowed growth process continued to cause a decline in vehicle sales in the January-September period. Meanwhile, news about a possible further increase in ÖTV boosted sales of passenger cars in September, resulting in a rise of 19.7 percent compared to August.
In addition, in line with the economic recovery seen in recent months and with the removal of the base effect, the contraction in the passenger car and light vehicle market switched to a growing trend, following the 0.44 percent year-on-year decline recorded in August.
The ODD has increased its forecast of total sales in the Turkish automotive sector in 2012 to the range of 790,000-840,000 units.