Auto market expands in August after months of contraction

ISTANBUL

The combined sales of passenger cars and light commercial vehicles grew by 0.8 percent year-on-year in August to 90,134, according to data from the Automotive Distributors’ and Mobility Association (ODMD) on Sept. 3.

The sales recovery, though modest, followed a period of market contraction over the previous four months, during which sales had plummeted by as much as 22 percent in April and 17.5 percent in July.

Passenger car sales inched up 0.2 percent annually to 69,288 units after declining 16 percent in the previous month.

However, passenger car sales were down 4.2 percent month-on-month in August. 

The light commercial vehicle market, which contracted 22 percent in July, expanded by 2.6 percent with 20,846 units sold.

The outlook in the electric vehicle market was not promising. EV sales plunged 32.4 percent in August from a year ago to 5,802. EVs share of the auto market was 8.4 percent, said ODMD.

In the first nine months of 2024, a total of 51,144 EVs were sold in Türkiye, marking an 80.1 percent year-on-year increase.

Togg delivered 601 cars in August alone and 14,849 cars in the first eight months of the year. Tesla sold 1,050 and 4,552 vehicles in August and January-August, respectively.

Fiat was the market leader with sales amounting to 93,271 units in the January-August period, including passenger cars and light commercial vehicles.

Renault and Ford came second and third at 82,508 and 61,131 vehicles sold, respectively.

Volkswagen sold 57,275 vehicles on the Turkish market in the first nine months, followed by Chinese Chery at 44,782.

Another Chinese carmaker BYD, which announced in July its plan to invest $1 billion in Türkiye, sold 1,730 vehicles, showed ODMD data.