Dear friends,

The Automotive Distributors Association (ODD) recently announced January 2019 domestic market sales figures in Turkey. It shows a 59% shrinkage compared to January of last year. This slump reminded me of January 2002 sales. At that time, there was no support such as OTV and VAT incentives. All brands could have sold 1,700 units only. Of course, we don’t have a painting that dark in these days The domestic market is 10 times higher than in 2002. Our national income per capita is much higher. However, these results we received at the beginning of this year seem to make us look for 2018 with candles.

If you wish, let’s look at automotive exports. Turkey Exporters Assembly (TIM) announced that automotive exports in January is 1.95% above January 2018. EU countries have 80 % share in total export volume. Amid slump in automotive exports to other regions, we increased exports to EU countries by 9% which make our total exports increase.

What is the current situation in the EU market? According to the ACEA report, automotive sales in EU countries increased only by 0.1% on year on year basis. But let us bear on mind that the automotive market in EU countries has been shrinking over the last four months As I mentioned in my previous articles, the WLTP standards, which came into force in September 2018 has triggered this shrinkage. It seems the automotive industry will continue to shrink until the alignment of these standards is complete. These developments in EU countries and our local market give clear message that our automotive industry will not spend easy year in 2019 .

Well, what needs to be done? Back to the years that make at least 1 million sales again in the domestic market, and formula for sustainability in exports are of the needs of course. First of all, tax reductions applied on vehicle prices until March 31, 2019 should continue for sake of avoiding further shrinkage in this year.
For a permanent solution, let me repeat the reminder I made in my previous articles:

  • With production-based economic growth, we must increase our national income per capita up to $ 16,000. and above. B segment of the car price of the base model is about at this price.
  • We must accelerate the arrival of new international direct investors to our country. We should not be lacking in matters they care most about, such as legal assurance and competitive investment environment.

My dear friends,

I assure you, if we agree on what we’re going to do, our way is not that long.