Over 40,000 vehicles sold in June

ISTANBUL

Total vehicle sales in Turkey declined by 16.36 percent on an annual basis to 42,688 units in June, data from the Automotive Distributors’ Association (ODD) showed on July 2.

That followed the 54.6 percent contraction in the market in the previous month when combined sales amounted to 33,016 units.

The ODD said the country’s passenger car market shrank 12.62 percent in June compared to a year earlier as sales in this segment declined to 36,024 units versus 41,225 units in June 2018.

In the previous month, the passenger car market saw a 52.6 percent decline in sales.

Light commercial vehicles sales dropped 32.08 percent on an annual basis to 6,664 units in June which followed the 62.07 percent contraction in this market in May.

In the first six months of the year, total vehicles sales (passenger cars plus light commercial vehicles) amounted to 195,144 units, marking a 44.77 percent decline in the same period of 2018.

Passenger car sales declined by 43.31 percent to 156,378 units, while light commercial vehicle sales fell by 49.97 percent to 38,766 units on an annual basis in January-June.

In 2018, Turkey’s automotive industry contracted 35 percent. Last year a total of 620,937 units of passenger cars and light commercial vehicles were sold versus 956,194 units in 2017.

Passenger car sales declined nearly 33 percent to 486,312 units and light commercial vehicle sales fell 42.3 percent to 134,616 in 2017, according to data from the ODD.

The ODD in June said it expected vehicle sales to be between 350,000 and 400,000 this year.