The automotive sector continues to be the locomotive of the country's economy with its performance in the coronavirus (Covid-19) epidemic < strong>

Financial risks increased by fluctuations in global markets due to Covid-19, negative effects on supply chains and exports, and the effects of anti-epidemic measures on domestic demand left the country's economies in a difficult position.

While many sectors were adversely affected, especially in the early stages of the epidemic, automotive was one of the most affected sectors. Automotive manufacturers had to stop their production. While the epidemic caused great losses in sales in Europe in the March-April-May period, the Turkish automotive market was also negatively affected by the epidemic.

Reasons such as the late appearance of Covid-19 in Turkey compared to Europe, the strong measures taken and the increased purchasing appetite, especially due to postponed demands, ensured that Turkey remained stronger in automotive sales.

On the export side, the automotive sector continued to maintain its strong position after recovering from the first shock.

In addition, public banks' reduction of vehicle loan interest rates to historically low levels in June brought a revival in the automotive sector.

115.8% growth in the automotive market

According to the compiled data, vehicle sales reached 70.288 units in June with the effect of falling interest rates. Automobile and light commercial vehicle sales in July were recorded as the highest July sales figure of all time with 87 .401 units.

The automobile and light commercial vehicle market in Turkey grew by 115.8 percent in September compared to the same month of the previous year, reaching a sales figure of 90,619.)

While automobile sales increased by 70 % compared to last year to 388.690 units, the light commercial vehicle market increased by 99.2 % and reached 104.931 units.

When September of this year and the same month of last year are evaluated, the automobile and light commercial vehicle market grew by 115.8 percent to 90 thousand 619 units. This is the highest September sale ever recorded.

The Turkish automobile and light commercial vehicle market increased by 52 % compared to the 10-year September average sales. The automobile market grew by 62.5 % and the light commercial vehicle market by 22.8%, compared to the average 10-year September sales.

By the end of the year, sales are expected to reach 700-750 thousand units.

Maintained its first place in the export ranking with a share of 15.7 percent.

Automotive sector, which continues at full throttle in exports as well as sales, once again proved that it is the locomotive sector of the country's economy.

According to the data of the Turkish Exporters Assembly (TIM), automotive exports, which started to fall in February due to the intense effect of the Covid-19 epidemic worldwide and fell to 596 million 332 thousand dollars in April, started to rise after this month and continued its upward trend until August

Despite the decline in Turkey's automotive exports in August, it recovered in September and reached its peak this year. The export of the automotive sector, which is the locomotive of Turkey's exports, increased by 68.7 percent in September compared to the previous month and reached 2 billion 605 million 33 thousand dollars.

On the other hand, the January-September exports of the automotive industry decreased by 24 percent compared to the same period of 2019 and reached 17.1 billion dollars due to the interruption of production for maintenance and repair activities by automotive factories and the effect of the epidemic.

Total amount of automotive industry exports, with a share of 15.7 percent in this period, maintained its place in the first place in the export ranking. On the basis of countries, EU countries played an important role in the exports of the automotive industry in September.

The gradual return to normal after the epidemic was felt most intensely, the turning of the wheels of the industry with the steps of the economy management to support the business world, the recovery of the economy and the gradual return of industrial facilities to production were among the main factors that positively affected the exports of the automotive industry.

Production side also gives positive signals

Automotive industry production also gave signals of exit from the slowdown seen during the pandemic period.

According to the Automotive Industry Association (OSD) data, automotive production, which was 136,236 units in September last year, increased by 4 percent in the same period of this year to 142 thousand 129 units.

In the 9 months of the year, total production decreased by 19 percent compared to the same period of the previous year and became 854 thousand 227 units, and automobile production decreased by 18 percent to 575 thousand 761 units.

Sales, production and exports continue to increase in the automotive aftermarket
Meanwhile, there were positive developments in the automotive aftermarket, which is one of the important components of the automotive .

According to the August sectoral evaluation survey of the Automotive After-Sales Products and Services Association, sales rates in the sector increased by 10 percent on average during the month.

While the average capacity utilization rate among the producer members increased to 80 percent in August, there was an increase of 7.34 percent in the exports of the members in August compared to July.

Employment preserved.

In the survey, the employment status of the participants was also hold under a microscope.

It was determined that the participants mainly maintained their employment rates, and the staff increase of the distributor members was higher than the increase of the producer members. To the question , 33 percent of the respondents answered ""increased", approximately 65 percent answered ""no change", and 2.4 percent ""decreased"".

(It is predicted that the automotive industry will determine its next way according to the course of the global pandemic and the developments in the economy. 

Source trtnews