Eco-Friendly Vehicle Investments Preferring Our Country is Highly Valued

ALİ HAYDAR BOZKURT

Automotive Distributors’ and Mobility Association (ODMD) President

Over the past 3.5 years, we have faced various global adversities such as the pandemic, the earthquake disaster, and economic challenges. 2023 has been a year of ups and downs and it was a quite unusual year. Within the year, we realized that we would surpass the figure of 1 million. In 2023, the total automotive domestic market reached a total market size of 1,283,952 units, a 55.2% increase compared to the previous year.

When making forecasts for 2024 and considering sectoral expectations, we see that everyone has different evaluations for this year. However, looking at the current picture, we anticipated that a market with as high numbers as the previous year would not occur.

A Market Expectation of over 1 Million Emerged

In the first half of 2024, the total market for passenger cars and light commercial vehicles in Türkiye increased by 3.7% compared to the same period of the previous year, reaching 577,981 units. Passenger car sales increased by 7.3% to 462,955 units in the January-June period of 2024, while the light commercial vehicle market decreased by 8.7% to 115,026 units.

As of June 2024, the automobile and light commercial vehicle market decreased by 5.3% compared to June 2023 and realized as 106,238 units. In June, passenger car sales decreased by 3.6% compared to the same month of the previous year, reaching 87,858 units, while the light commercial vehicle market decreased by 12.6% to 18,380 units.

We foresee that the slowdown will continue in the coming months. According to the average estimates of all member firms of ODMD, a market expectation of over 1 million emerges for 2024.

The tightening measures for our economy have been, of course, reflected rapidly in our sector, which acts in parallel with the economy. The impact of interest rate hikes has also begun to be felt. As you know, the use of credit is a crucial factor in our sector, but the fact that the Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency (BDDK) base rates that determine the amount of credit have not been updated for some time, and the difficulties in accessing credit restrict credit opportunities for consumers. According to the statements made, these measures will continue in the economy in the upcoming period.

Moreover, since the base amounts that determine the special consumption tax rate have not been updated for a long time, the lack of vehicles benefiting from the lower tax bracket affects demand and consumers.

We are in a year of 2024 where a different financial discipline is being followed. As a sector, we always support the adoption of a structure that follows a certain trend, not only for our sector but also for the country's economy with a healthier fiscal policy.

The automotive industry is one of the important industries of developed and developing countries, and our sector plays a significant role as the driving force of Türkiye's industry.

As we know, the automotive sector is undergoing significant technological change and transformation today. We are perhaps witnessing a technological transformation of a century. Each passing day, new models equipped with environmentally friendly technologies are presented to consumers in global markets.

According to the fuel types of cars sold in the European automobile market in 2023, electric cars had a share of 14.6%, hybrid cars 25.8%, plug-in hybrids 7.7%, gasoline cars 35.3%, and diesel cars 13.6%.

Eco-Friendly Vehicle Investments Preferring Our Country is Highly Valued

In Türkiye, in the 2023 car market by engine type; gasoline car sales had a share of 66.8%, diesel car sales 13.8%, hybrid car sales 10.8%, LPG car sales 1.1%, and electric car sales 7.5%.

At this point, I would like to say on behalf of our sector that we need to approach the subject from the perspective of eco-friendly vehicles. Infrastructure targets, preparations, and incentive mechanisms similar to the ones set by European countries should continue to be established step by step. I find it very valuable that new eco-friendly vehicle investments prefer our country.

Supporting the domestic market for eco-friendly vehicles, the widespread market adoption and development of new technologies, encouraging consumer habits to form around this, and developing the automotive ecosystem in parallel with global developments in this direction are highly valuable. Countries all over the world, especially in Europe, are taking serious actions on eco-friendly cars. It is crucial for our country's automotive sector, which is a significant part of the global automotive industry, to follow developments and make necessary preparations and implementations closely.

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