Auto production plunges 13 percent in April

ISTANBUL

Turkish carmakers’ production declined by 13.2 percent in April from a year ago, owing largely to the public holidays in the month, the data from the Automotive Manufacturers Association (OSD) have shown.

Last month, companies manufactured a total of 97,877 vehicles against 112,733 in April last year.

Passenger car production declined by 16 percent year-on-year to 61,835 units, according to the numbers from OSD.

Some 102,000 vehicles were sold on the local market, marking a 22.5 percent contraction, with passenger car sales dropping 20.6 percent to 61,448 units.

Carmakers delivered 76,204 total vehicles to foreign markets in April, a 1.1 percent annual increase, but exports of passenger cars grew at 6.6 percent to 51,868.

The industry’s export revenues amounted to $2.71 billion with passenger car exports falling by 2.7 percent year-on-year to $853.2 million. In terms of the euro, export revenues were down 1.2 percent to 2.48 billion euros.

In the first four months of 2024, the local auto industry produced a total of 474,947 vehicles, which translated into a 1 percent decline from the same period of last year.

Passenger car output rose by 2 percent on an annual basis to 300,109 units, but commercial vehicle production declined by 5 percent, said OSD.

The capacity utilization rate in the auto industry was 73 percent in the January-April period. In the passenger car and light commercial vehicles segment the capacity usage was 74 percent.

Export revenues amounted to $11.93 billion in the first four months, rising 3.1 percent from a year ago, while passenger car exports generated $3.3 billion in revenue, down 3.8 percent year-on-year.