Automotive industry targets $34 billion in exports this year

BURSA

Türkiye’s automotive industry aims to generate $34 billion in export revenues this year, the Automotive Industry Exporters’ Association (OİB) has said.

“Despite the economic slowdown in Europe, our largest export market, and changes in demand conditions, we managed to increase our export revenues both in December and the whole of 2022,” said Baran Çelik, president of the OİB.

In 2023, which marks the centennial of the republic, the automotive industry targets to reclaim the title of most-exporting sector by generating $34 billion in sales to foreign markets, Çelik said in a statement.

Commenting on the performance of the local carmakers, Çelik noted that export revenues amounted to around $31 billion in 2022. “We lost some $3 billion due to the euro-dollar exchange rate.”

The industry faced multiple challenges last year, including the chip shortage, high inflation, rising energy prices and the looming risk of global recession, he said.

“Those problems worsened with the Russian-Ukraine war. However, the automotive industry succeeded in boosting its export revenues both in December and 2022 as a whole,” Çelik added.

December export performance

Last month, exports grew 6.7 percent from a year ago to touch $3.16 billion, which marked an all-time-high monthly figure for the automotive sector and accounted for 13.8 percent of Türkiye’s overall export revenues, according to data from the OİB.

Exports by the automotive supply sector stood at $1.12 billion, exhibiting an annual increase of 7 percent. This subsector’s sales to Germany, its largest market, fell 1 percent, but its exports to Russia and France leaped 56 percent and 18 percent, respectively. 

Local companies’ passenger car exports generated $1.11 billion in revenue, rising 19 percent from December 2021. 

France was the automotive sector’s largest export market in December 2022. Exports to this country increased 15 percent year-on-year to $506 million. The OİB reported a 3 percent rise in exports to Germany to $358mn. Italy boosted its purchase from the Turkish automotive sector by 11 percent to $318mn. 

The share of the European Union in the sector’s exports was 66.4 percent. Sales to the bloc grew 11 percent from December 2021 to $2 billion. 

In the whole of 2022, the industry’s export revenues increased by 5.7 percent compared to 2021 to stand at $31 billion, which marked the second-highest export figure ever for the automotive sector. 

The supply industry’s exports were up 10 percent last year to reach $12.98 billion.

The European Union accounted for 64.7 percent - or $20 billion - of the automotive industry’s total exports. 

Sales to the Middle Eastern countries rose 20 percent, but exports to Africa dropped 19 percent, the OİB said.