Auto sales on course to reach 1 million this year

ISTANBUL

Nearly 860,000 vehicles were sold in January-September, raising hopes that total sales in the auto industry will reach or even exceed 1 million this year.

Passenger car sales grew 67 percent year-on-year in the first nine months of this year to 667,000, while light commercial vehicle sales were up 57 percent to 191,000, according to the data from the Automotive Distributors' and Mobility Association (ODMD).

In the whole of 2022, carmakers sold 783,000 vehicles.

Experts link strong sales numbers in 2023 to two factors: Consumers unleashed pent-up demand in 2023 and demand was vibrant because people bought brand-new cars as an investment.

The measures taken by the Trade Minister drive people who see cars as an investment away from the market.

The pace of annual growth in passenger car sales slowed from 96 percent in August to 77 percent last month to 79,000, the ODMD data showed.

The numbers provided by the association for the first time included Tesla. The U.S. company, which started to sell its vehicles online in April, delivered 10,200 cars.

In a meeting in New York last month, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan called on Elon Musk to establish a factory in Türkiye.

Togg, Türkiye’s first electric carmaker, delivered 5,604 cars in the first nine months. Togg began deliveries in May.

Electric vehicle sales exploded in September. Nearly 11,000 EVs were sold last month, marking a staggering 1,279 percent year-on-year increase. EVs accounted for 13.5 percent of all car sales.

In the first nine months, EV sales rose 863 percent from a year ago to 39,051, the ODMD data showed.

Other electric carmakers Skywell, Seres and Leapmotor sold 1,421, 289 and 300 vehicles, respectively.