Turkey: Auto sales over 239,000 in first 8 months

By Gokhan Ergocun

ISTANBUL (AA) - Turkey’s passenger car and light commercial vehicle sales totaled 239,317 during the first eight months of this year, the Automotive Distributors' Association (ODD) reported on Tuesday.

The automotive market narrowed nearly 46% year-on-year in January-August period, the association said in a written statement.

A total of 193,320 passenger cars were sold in the country, dropping 43.94% compared to the first eight months of 2018.

The light commercial vehicle market posted a drop of 51.86% in the Jan.-Aug. period to stand at 45,997 versus the same period last year.

56.12% of all 239,317 vehicles were diesel-engined, while petrol-engined vehicles' share was 36.53% -- autogas took 4.13% share, hybrid 3.16% and electricity 0.06%.

Prominent automotive manufacturers including Fiat, Ford, Honda, Hyundai, Mercedes, Renault, and Toyota have manufacturing operations in Turkey which is among the world’s top auto sale markets.

In Turkey, a total of 620,937 automobiles and light commercial vehicles were sold last year, down from 956,194 in 2017.