Electric vehicle sales expected to almost double this year

ISTANBUL

The size of Türkiye’s electric car market is expected to nearly double this year as sales are forecast to reach 120,000 units.

Last year, 72,179 EVs were sold in the country, pointing to an 833 percent increase from 2022, which made Türkiye the fastest-growing EV market in Europe. In terms of the number of EV sales, Türkiye ranked 8th in Europe.

EVs’ share in total vehicle sales rose to 7.5 percent last year, when the country’s auto market, including passenger cars and light commercial vehicles, expanded by 57 percent to 1.23 million.

Based on carmakers’ targets set for the local market, EV sales in Türkiye are expected to climb to 120,000 this year, which means their share of total sales will rise to 17 percent.

If those projections materialize, the number of EVs on the country’s roads will reach 210,000 in 2024 and EVs will overtake hybrid and diesel cars to become the second-best selling vehicles after gasoline-cars.

With the expected 120,000 sales, the Turkish EV market will be on course to become the 6th largest in Europe this year.

[HH] Companies’ sales targets

Türkiye’s first indigenous EV maker Togg aims to boost its sales from 19,583 in 2023 to 45,000 in 2024. Thus, Togg will maintain its market leading position this year. The company plans to produce a total of 47,000 cars this year of which 2,000 will be shipped abroad.

Stellantis Group, which produces Peugeot, Citroen and Opel brand cars, is likely to claim the second spot in the Turkish market, selling more EVs than U.S. automaker Tesla.

According to the group’s projections, EVs will constitute 15 percent of Peugeot, Citroen and Opel sales in Türkiye in 2024. Stellantis Group aims to sell around 30,000 EVs in the local market this year.

It is estimated that Tesla, which sold 12,150 cars last year, will deliver only 1,300 vehicles to the Turkish market this year. It was the second-best selling EV brand in Türkiye in 2023.

Volkswagen hopes to become one of the top five brands by introducing new models to the Turkish market. The German carmaker aims to sell 7,000 EVs in Türkiye this year.

The EV sales targets of Mercedes-Benz and Hyundai are 6,250 and 5,000, respectively. In 2023, Mercedes-Benz sold 3,622 and Hyundai delivered 640 EVs in Türkiye.

Chinese companies, on the other hand, are likely to sell less cars than they had initially planned due to a regulation introduced by the Trade Ministry last year. According to those rules, companies importing EVs must have authorized service stations in seven regions of the country.

Imports from the EU and countries having free-trade agreements with Türkiye are exempt from the decree.

Before the new regulation was introduced, BYD had aimed to sell at least 10,000 EVs in Türkiye this year, while other Chinese carmakers, such as MG, Skywell, Leapmotor and Chery had expected to increase their shares in the local market.