Türkiye’s automotive industry achieved the highest-ever 10-month export figures on a sectoral basis, exceeding $30.5 billion (TL 1.05 trillion) with a 6.5% increase from the same period last year, according to a report on Monday citing figures from recently announced foreign trade data.
In recent periods, the country has attracted attention with the rise in export figures within the sector, becoming a central hub for global automotive manufacturers due to factors like proximity to the European market and workforce potential.
Often dubbed as the “locomotive” of the Turkish economy, the automotive sector enjoyed a positive momentum, with outbound shipments of nearly $3.6 billion in the last month alone, the data from the Turkish Exporters Assembly (TIM) showed. This marked a 16.4% surge on an annual basis.
On Tuesday, a separate statement by the Uludağ Automotive Industry Exporters Association (OIB) confirmed the sector saw a record monthly figure.
“In October, we reached the highest monthly export figure ever with $3.6 billion,” said OIB Board Chairperson Baran Çelik.
“A 31% increase was recorded in passenger cars and a 17% increase in the supply industry. Last month, France became the country to which our sector exported the most, leaving Germany and the United Kingdom behind with a 27% increase in exports,” he added.
Türkiye’s exports overall rose by 3.2% in the January-October period compared to the same period last year, totaling $216.4 billion, TIM data revealed.
Meanwhile, the exports in October were up 3.6% year-over-year, reaching $23.6 billion, Trade Minister Ömer Bolat announced recently.
At the same time, the exports from the automotive industry between January and October reached $30.51 billion, with the sector exceeding the $30 billion threshold figure for 10 months for the first time.
In January-October, the share of automotive industry exports in total exports was calculated as 14.1%.
Most exports to Germany
Major European economies took the lead in the imports of automotive products from Türkiye, the data revealed, with the largest figure of $4 billion coming from sales to Germany.
Germany was followed by the U.K., to which Türkiye exported $3.5 billion worth of automotive goods in 10 months, and France with $3.4 billion. Italy, meanwhile, ranked fourth with $2.7 billion and Spain was next with $2 billion, respectively.
The United Kingdom was at the top of the list in terms of export growth. In January-October, the automotive sector’s exports to the country increased by $863 million. The U.K. was followed by Slovenia with $292.7 million, Romania with $261.4 million, Italy with $224.4 million, and the United States with $135.4 million.
The automotive industry exported $1.4 billion worth of goods in total to Slovenia in the stated period, $979 million to the United States and $957 million to Romania.
Looking at Turkish provinces, northwestern Kocaeli stood at the forefront with shipments of $7.8 billion in 10 months, followed by neighboring Istanbul with $6.9 billion and Bursa at $6.1 billion.
Automotive exports, which declined in 2019 and 2020 due to the effects of the pandemic, showed a rapid recovery with the start of the normalization process worldwide.
While the exports covering the 10 months of 2020 were at $20.1 billion, these figures witnessed a steady increase in the following years.
The sector’s sales increased by 19% in the same period of 2021 to $23.9 billion and further to $25 billion in the January-October period of 2022, when the effects of the pandemic were less felt than in previous years.
Moreover, this figure soared to $28.7 billion in the same period of 2023 and eventually surpassed $30 billion this year.
