Turkey’s automotive exports surge 19.5 pct, hitting $28.5 bln in 2017,

ANKARA - Anadolu Agency

Turkey’s automotive industry exports have surged 19.5 percent to hit $28.53 billion in 2017, compared to the previous year, automotive exporters said on Jan. 7.

Automotive exports rose six percent to $2.49 billion in December, Uludağ Automotive Industry Exporters’ Association stated.

The share of the automotive industry in the total exports of the country was 18 percent in 2017.

The monthly average for the industry was $2.4 billion in the year.

Exports to Germany, Turkey’s largest market in the automotive field, were $4.36 billion during the January-December period of 2017, increasing 10 percent compared to the same period in 2016.

Italy and France followed Germany with $3.14
billion and $2.91 billion respectively.

Seventy-seven percent of the country’s total automotive exports were made to

EU countries, a figure that translates as $22 billion and amounts to a 17-percent rise during the January-December period of 2017.

Turkey’s exports to the North American Free Trade Area (NAFTA) soared 87
percent to $1.64 billion in 2017, compared to the previous year’s $877.06 million.