Turkish carmakers face stiff competition from Chinese rivals

ISTANBUL

Chinese companies are using state subsidies to flood the local market with cheap cars that put local carmakers in a difficult position, according to Berk Çağdaş, general manager of MAİS.

“This has been all about price competition. They [Chinese companies] bring those cars only to capture a larger share in the local market,” he added.

“Would this strategy be sustainable? We simply don’t know yet.”

Chinese carmakers are selling more and more vehicles in the Turkish market.

For instance, Chery sold 44,782 cars in January-August, up from around 21,000 in the same period of last year.

BYD, which announced in July its plan to invest $1 billion in Türkiye, sold 1,730 vehicles.

In the first eight months of 2024, the Turkish auto market expanded by 0.2 percent. In this period a total of 762,152 vehicles, including passenger cars and light commercial vehicles, were sold.

Investments by foreign companies are welcome as they will create jobs, said Çağdaş.

“To create a better and healthier functioning market, we are expecting the government to provide incentives for domestically produced electric and hybrid vehicles,” he added.

This would not mean discrimination, favoring local producers, said Çağdaş.

He noted that OYAK and Renault are investing more than 300 million euros in a plant in the province of Bursa, which will produce hybrid engines.

Additionally, Renault plans to manufacture four of its eight new models to be introduced by 2027 in Türkiye, according to Çağdaş.

“The size of this investment will be around 450 million euros. We are investing a total of 1 billion euros.”

“The issue here is competition. And, currently, this is not a fair competition. As long as the conditions are right, we are ready for any kind of competition,” Çağdaş said.

In September, the Trade Ministry imposed strict conditions on imported plug-in hybrid vehicles which are likely to affect Chinese carmakers the most.

The new regulation, from which EU countries and Türkiye’s free trade agreement (FTA) partners are exempt, lays out requirements for importers to meet.

According to the new regulation, importers of this model vehicles must have 20 authorized service shops in seven regions of Türkiye, while they are required to set up a Turkish call center staffed with at least 40 personnel.

They also must appoint a legal representative of the manufacturer, based in Türkiye.

Chinese carmakers DFSK, Lynk & Co and MG are expected to be impacted by the new regulation, as well as Japanese Lexus’s NX and RX plug-in hybrid models.

In June, Türkiye imposed similar restrictions to limit imports of electric vehicles, which experts say are designed to encourage especially Chinese companies to invest in the country.