Turkish automotive sector beats record

Turkish automotive sector beats record

According to the data released from the Automotive Industry Association (OSD), total vehicle production amounted to 52'619 units in November. In the first eleven months of 2003, vehicle production totaled to 488'689 units and beat the production record by passing 468'381 units reported in the same period of year 2000. With December production, the total production in 2003 is expected to exceed 500'000 units. In the first eleven months of 2003, passenger car production reached 253'547 units. In January-November period, Oyak Renault produced 114'617 units, Tofas 112'753 units and Ford Otosan 99'636 units. The vehicle production has exceeded 400'000 units thrice. In 1993, the production reached 453'465 units while 405'002 and 468'381 units were produced in 1998 and 2000 respectively. In the first eleven months of 2003, 62.3% of the total exports have been effected to the 15 member states of European Union. This revealed that the leading sector of the Turkish economy has obtained $4 billion portion of the total $6.4 billion automotive exports value from the EU market. Based on the data obtained from Uludag Exporters Union (UIB), Turkish automotive sector has exported to a total 174 countries and self governing territories and 14 free trade zones worldwide. The major EU countries receiving Turkish exports are headed by Germany, France, Italy, UK and Spain. Belgium, Ireland, Netherlands, Austria, Sweden, Greece, Finland, Denmark, Portugal and Luxembourg also received significant export volumes from Turkey. Turkish market share in Europe amounted to 70.6% for the automotive exports when the candidate countries are considered.