Vehicle sales may hit 120,000

ISTANBUL

Total vehicle sales may climb to 120,000 in December, surpassing the 110,000 mark for the first time in five years, according to an executive from carmaker Fiat.

Potential consumers are heading to dealers to buy new cars before the end of the year after the government announced the new price thresholds for a special consumption tax (SCT) on vehicles last month.

However, the problem in the market is the insufficient supply of cars, while some potential buyers are facing difficulties obtaining loans for purchasing vehicles in high segments.

Despite those problems, the combined sales of passenger cars and light commercial vehicles are expected to climb to 120,000 in December.

“Demand is strong. Depending on the availability of vehicles, sales could reach 120,000 vehicles this month,” said Altan Aytaç, the brand director at Fiat.

After the SCT issue became clear, demand in the market picked up, he told reporters at an event in Istanbul, which was organized to introduce Fiat’s two new light commercial vehicle models.

“We are expecting sales to be around 110,000 or even 120,000 vehicles in December. For the whole year, we forecast 780,000 sales,” Aytaç said.

For his company, Aytaç projected that Fiat will sell 124,000 vehicles this year and that its market share will be 18.6 percent.

The latest data from the Automotive Distributors’ and Mobility Association (ODMD) showed that the combined sales of passenger cars and light commercial vehicles increased 37 percent year-on-year in November to 82,311. Passenger car sales rose by 38 percent last month from a year ago to 59,222.