Auto market continues to shrink in July

ISTANBUL

The combined sales of passenger cars and light commercial vehicles declined for a fourth month in a row in July, data from the Automotive Distributors’ and Mobility Association (ODMD) has shown.

The market contracted 17.5 percent year-on-year in July when a little more than 94,000 vehicles were sold.

The market shrank 22.3 percent in April and 10.1 percent in May. In July, auto sales were down 5.3 percent.

Passenger car sales plunged 16 percent compared with July 2023 to 73,396 units, after declining by 3.6 percent in the previous month.

The annual decline in light commercial vehicle sales accelerated from 12.6 percent in June to 22.2 percent in July to 20,641 units.

In July, 5,927 electric vehicles were sold on the local market, pointing to a 7.7 percent increase from the same month of last year.

Electric vehicles accounted for 8.1 percent of all cars sold last month.

Electric vehicle sales surged 129 percent year-on-year to 45,342 units in the January-July period, accounting for 8.5 percent of the market.

Hybrid car sales, on the other hand, increased by 47 percent to 79,525, according to ODMD data.

In the first seven months of 2024, the auto market expanded by only 0.1 percent compared with the same period of last year. Some 672,018 vehicles were sold in January-July.

Passenger car sales grew 3.4 percent year-on-year to 563,351, but light commercial vehicle sales plunged 11 percent to 135,667.