Vehicle production down in January

ISTANBUL

Turkish carmakers produced a total of 108,482 vehicles last month, marking a 3 percent decline from a year ago, according to the data from Automotive Manufacturers’ Association (OSD).

The annual decline in passenger car output was 5 percent to a little more than 67,000 units, but commercial vehicle production inched up 1 percent compared to January 2023.

In the heavy commercial vehicle segment, output increased by 7 percent, while production in the light commercial vehicles production was almost unchanged on an annual basis.

Across the industry, the capacity utilization rate was 67 percent, with the capacity usage in the passenger cars and light commercial vehicle manufacturing plants at 66 percent, said OSD, which represents 13 companies in the industry.

Local carmakers delivered 75,106 vehicles to foreign markets in the first month of 2024, pointing to a 5 percent decline from a year earlier.

Passenger car exports were down 13 percent, while commercial vehicle shipments to foreign countries increased by 9 percent.

The industry’s exports amounted to $2.8 billion in January, rising 2 percent year-on-year. In terms of euro, export revenues were 2.5 billion euros, up around 1 percent compared to January 2023.

The local market expanded 54 percent last month from a year ago as a total of 82,416 vehicles were sold, with passenger car sales growing 72 percent to 64,000 units. The share of domestically produced vehicles in total passenger car sales was 35 percent.

In 2023, 1.47 million vehicles were manufactured in Türkiye, up from the previous year’s 1.35 million. Passenger car output increased by 17.5 percent to 953,000 units.