Turkish automobile makers raising high hopes for 2016

ISTANBUL – Anadolu Agency

Commercial and sedan cars are seen at a Turkish port for exports. Europe remains as a leading market for Turkish car makers, the representatives of int’l brands.

Turkish automotive makers have high hopes for next year, as they highlight that 2015 targets have already been surpassed.  

Ali Haydar Bozkurt, the CEO of Toyota Turkey, said he did not expect big fluctuations in 2016, unlike this year.  

The euro will stand between 3.15 and 3.30 per Turkish Lira next year, he forecasted. 

Consumers instead preferred to buy gold for savings in the first half of 2015, due to the expectation that the United States Federal Reserves would raise exchange rates, the uncertainty before the general elections in June and the ups and downs in the foreign exchange, the executive said. 

“Despite the fact that further negative conditions have caused a slowdown in the industry between August and October, the automotive market began recovering after the November elections,” he said. 

The June 7 elections failed to yield a single-party or a coalition government before the Nov. 1 elections brought the Justice and Development Party (AKP) back to power. 

Bozkurt forecasted 2015 car sales to stand between 950,000 and 990,000, forecasting a 10 percent decrease for next year. 

The market grew 31 percent between January and November in the same period of 2014. 

Toyota aims at making 40,000 to 50,000 car sales, Bozkurt said, adding that the company has already neared 50,000 car sales this year.  

Haydar Yenigün, the general manager of Ford Otosan, which produces Ford cars in the country, cited similar negative outcomes with Bozkurt. 

“Thus, a fall was expected in the market but it kept growing mainly within the framework of positive expectations at the start of the year,” Yenigün said. 

He projected Turkish car sales for this year to reach 954,000. 

His company sold 105,914 cars in the first 11 months of the year. 

His company is set to present a new minibus and Ranger next year, Yenigün said, naming 2016 as the “SUV year” for Ford. 

Kuga, Edge and Ecosport, Ford’s new SUV cars, will be on Turkish roads next year, he said, remaining optimistic for sales in the new year. 

Hyundai Assan General Manager Önder Göker also said the Turkish car industry grew above projections, he said. 

His company sold 43,986 cars in the first 11 months of the year, earning a 5.5 percent market share, he said. That share goes up to 7 percent for sedan cars, Göker added. 

“We will have exported at least 195,000 cars, especially to European markets, by the year’s end,” he said. 
His forecast for the Turkish car sales next year was also 950,000.