Auto sales decline around 2 pct in April

ISTANBUL

The combined sales of passenger cars and light commercial vehicles in Turkey declined by 2.4 percent in April from a year ago to 60,000 units, the Automotive Distributor Association (ODD) has said.

That followed the 33 percent and 15 percent declines recorded in vehicle sales in the previous two months, respectively. In January, automotive sales were also down 12.8 percent on an annual basis

The passenger car market contracted 5.8 percent, while the light commercial vehicle market shrank 10.4 percent in April.

Some 46,000 passenger cars and 15,000 light commercial vehicles were sold in Turkey in April, according to data from the ODD.

In the month, 315 electric vehicles were also sold, which marked a strong 139 percent increase from April 2020. However, electric vehicles accounted for only 0.7 percent of all car sales. From January to April, electric car sales in Turkey leaped 213 percent on an annual basis to 1,388 units.

Experts say that people are increasingly turning to electric vehicles as gasoline prices increase. Gasoline prices nearly doubled in the past year in Turkey, which means car owners need to allocate a larger portion of their income to commute. There are presently around 4,000 charging stations across Turkey. The network of charging stations operated by private companies on the intercity highways and in the cities is also expanding fast.

The ODD also reported that 5,374 hybrid vehicles were sold in the local market in April, up nearly 53 percent from the same month of 2021. Hybrid vehicle sales made up some 12 percent of all vehicle sales.

In the first four months of 2022, hybrid vehicle sales declined by 2.7 percent to 16,606 units, and they accounted for a little more than 10 percent of all car sales.