Carmakers rise on possible gov’t rescue

Bloomberg

Doğuş, which sells Volkswagen cars in Turkey, added as much as 12 percent, to end the day at 2.03 Turkish liras on the Istanbul Stock Exchange’s benchmark IMKB-100 index yesterday.

"Expectation of a rescue package is pushing the shares of car companies higher," said Kurthan Atmaca, an analyst at Ekspres Invest in Istanbul.

Turkish carmakers halted production in December and again this month as demand slumped at home and in Europe, Turkey’s biggest export market. The industry needs "immediate support," the Auto Distributors’ Association in Istanbul said last week.

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan will announce a package to help car companies, Finance Minister Kemal Unakıtan said last Friday.

The measures will include tax breaks for buyers who exchange old cars that would otherwise be scrapped, officials at the Finance Ministry said yesterday on usual condition of anonymity.

Tofaş, Fiat SpA’s Turkish unit, rose for the first time in three days, adding 4.4 percent to end the day at 1.20 liras. Ford Otosan, Ford Motor Co.’s unit in Turkey, increased 5.9 percent to 4.68 liras. Production of motor vehicles in Turkey fell 62 percent in December, according to data published by the Automotive Manufacturers’ Association. Sales of passenger cars dived 58 percent to 25,879 units in the month, the distributor’s association said Jan. 7.

Layoffs
Tofaş will sack 657 workers as part of cost-cutting measures and a further 241 took voluntary redundancy, the company said Jan. 8. Ford Otosan halted production at its factories for nine days from Jan. 15.

Exports of motor vehicles will probably fall 20 percent this year as demand in Europe declines, daily Sabah said yesterday citing Celal Çağlar, head of the automotive division of OYAK, which makes cars with Renault.

Honda Motor Co. Ltd. and Hyundai Motor Co. are also among producers with plants in Turkey.