Auto production increases 19 percent in October

ISTANBUL

The automotive industry’s production increased by 18.6 percent in October from a year ago to 136,177, data from the Automotive Manufacturers’ Association (OSD) have shown.

Last month, more than 91,000 passenger cars were produced, pointing to a 46.7 percent increase compared with October 2022, while carmakers’ commercial vehicle production plunged 15 percent to around 45,000.

Pickup truck output was down 19 percent year-on-year, but bus production leaped 41 percent.

In October, the market expanded 52 percent as a total of 105,154 vehicles were sold, with passenger car sales rising more than 74 percent to some 83,000, OSD said.

Türkiye’s passenger car imports climbed 77 percent to 52,482. The share of imported cars in the local market was 63.5 percent in October, declining from 66.5 percent in the previous month and 79 percent in August.

The industry’s total vehicle shipments to foreign countries rose by 7.4 percent. Passenger car exports, on the other hand, increased 31 percent from October 2022 to around 67,000.

Export revenues amounted to $3.14 billion, marking a 16 percent year-on-year increase.

In the first 10 months of 2023, carmakers produced a total of 1.2 million vehicles, a 12.4 percent increase compared with January-October last year, with passenger car output rising 23 percent to more than 773,000.

Total vehicle sales reached almost 1 million with a 62 percent annual increase. Passenger car sales grew 68 percent to 750,000.

The automotive industry’s export revenues amounted to $29.3 billion in the January-October period, rising 15.5 percent from a year ago.

In terms of euro, exports increased by 12.8 percent to 27.1 billion euros, according to OSD.