Turkish auto sales decrease in first 10 months

By Aysu Bicer

ANKARA (AA) - Turkey’s car and light commercial vehicle sales decreased 31.88% in the first ten months of the current year, the Automotive Distributors' Association said on Tuesday.

A total of 330,384 automobiles were sold during this period, down from 485,027 in 2018, according to a report by the association.

Passenger car sales went down by 29.17% to 268,624 in the first ten months of 2019, compared to the same period of previous year.

"In January-October 2019, light commercial vehicle market decreased by 41.6%, in comparison to previous year, to 61,760. In 2018, the sales were 105,753," it added.

On the other hand, passenger car market surged by 138% in October this year, with passenger car and light commercial vehicle market increasing to 49,075. "In comparison to the total number of 21,571 in October 2018, the sales went up in a ratio of 127.5%," it noted.

It said passenger car sales went up by 137.94% in 2019 year-on-year, reaching 39,996, up from last year figure of 16,809.

Light commercial vehicle market increased by 90.66% to 9,079 in October, compared to the same period last year. In 2018, the sales were 4,762.

- EU commercial vehicle market grows by 8.7%

Also, the European Automobile Manufacturers' Association (ACEA) reported new‐car registrations were down 0.7% compared to the first 10 months of 2018.

"Although demand increased across the EU in September and October, Germany (+3.4%) remained the only major European market to record growth so far in 2019," it said.

By contrast, Spain (‐6.3%) and the United Kingdom (‐2.9%) saw the strongest declines during the same period, while the Italian (‐0.8%) and French (‐0.3%) markets have almost recovered to 2018 volumes.

ACEA added that the EU passenger car market grew by 8.7% to reach 1,177,746 units registered, marking the highest October total on record since 2009.

As a result, nearly all EU countries posted increases in October, with the exception of Greek Cypriot administration and the United Kingdom, it noted.

Four of the five major EU markets noted strong gains, Germany (12.7%), France (8.7%), Italy (6.7%) and Spain (6.3%), while car sales contracted in the UK (‐6.7%).