Turkey produces 1.2M vehicles in January-September

By Tuba Sahin

ANKARA (AA) - Turkey's automotive production from January to September fell five percent on a yearly basis, according to the Automotive Manufacturers Association (OSD) on Friday.

Automakers in Turkey produced 1.2 million vehicles -- including automobiles, light commercial vehicles, and tractors -- in the first nine months of this year, according to the monthly issued by the OSD.

The automobile production also dropped 8 percent during the same period, to reach 769,464.

The report showed that the Turkish market for auto sales (including light trucks and other vehicles) narrowed 26 percent annually, standing at 479,856 between January and September.

Turkey's automotive exports dropped 1 percent to 972,208 during the same period, the report revealed.

However, the export value rose to $23.9 billion, up 13 percent year-on-year, due to high level of the dollar-lira parity, it said.

The nine-month average U.S. dollar/Turkish lira exchange rate this year was around 4.68, while last year one dollar traded for 3.59 liras on average.