Auto sales declined 36 percent in Turkey in March

ISTANBUL

Combined passenger cars and light commercial vehicles sales in Turkey declined by 35.5 percent on an annual basis in March, following the 59 percent and 47 percent contractions in the market in January and February, respectively.

In month, a total of 49,221 vehicles were sold on the local markets, data from the Automotive Distributors’ Association (ODD) showed.

The passenger car market contracted 35.4 percent on an annual basis as 38,628 units were sold in March while light commercial vehicle sales declined by 36 percent from a year ago to 10,593 units.

In the first quarter, auto sales fell 44.2 percent on an annual basis to 88,469 units. Passenger car sales dropped 43.7 percent to 68,812 units while light commercial vehicles sales were down 45.6 percent to 19,657 units.

In March, the government extended tax cuts on cars and commercial vehicles until the end of June to boost demand.

In 2018, Turkey’s automotive industry contracted 35 percent. Last year a total of 620,937 units of passenger cars and light commercial vehicles were sold versus 956,194 units in 2017.

Passenger car sales declined nearly 33 percent to 486,312 units and light commercial vehicle sales fell 42.3 percent to 134,616 in 2017, according to data from the ODD.