Carmakers’ production rises 5 percent in April

ISTANBUL

Turkish carmakers’ vehicle production has increased by 5.2 percent in April from a year ago to 113,000, the Automotive Manufacturers’ Association (OSD) has said.

Last month, companies produced nearly 74,000 passenger cars, up more than 17 percent on an annual basis.

The industry’s exports fell 1 percent compared with April 2022 to 75,400, but shipments of passenger cars to foreign markets grew 12.6 percent to 48,600.

In the first four months of 2023, total production grew 17 percent from the January-April period to 479,400 vehicles with passenger car output rising 29 percent year-on-year to 296,000.

Commercial vehicle production exhibited an annual rise of 2 percent.

Carmakers delivered 329,000 vehicles to foreign countries, marking a 9 percent increase from the first four months of 2022.

Passenger car exports grew 22 percent, but commercial vehicle exports fell 8 percent.

The industry’s export revenues amounted to $11.6 billion in January-April, which translated into a 12 percent increase from a year ago.

The capacity utilization rate in the automotive industry was 73 percent in the first four months of the year. The usage rate in the passenger cars and light commercial vehicle segment was also 73 percent. Some 350,000 vehicles were sold on the local market during this period, 57 percent higher than the cars sold a year ago. Passenger car sales increased 56 percent to around 253,000.

In April alone, the local auto market expanded 63 percent year-on-year.

More than 102,000 vehicles were sold last month, according to the OSD data.

Passenger car sales grew 70 percent year-on-year to 77,400.

Export revenues declined by 0.6 percent from April 2022 to $2.76 billion and the number of vehicles shipped to foreign markets fell by 1 percent to 75,400.

Local producers’ passenger car exports increased by 11 percent on an annual basis to $878 million, the data showed.