Turkish automotive sector in world’s top 10
Posted by meb at February 15th, 2008
The Turkish automotive sector, which ranked 11th in employment opportunities in the International Organization of Motor Vehicle Manufacturers (OICA) 2005 data, has entered the world’s top 10.
Turkey, which ranked 16th among the world’s automotive producing countries in the 2005 OICA report, also ranked 11th for providing direct employment to 230,000 people, according to the same report. However, according to unofficial figures, employment in main and related industry is close to 250,000, carrying Turkey slightly ahead of South Korea in the 10th place.
The Turkish automotive sector provides direct employment opportunities to 247,000 people: Some 47,000 in the main and 200,000 in the related industry. Moreover, the number of employees working at recognized dealers, special sales points and services in the country reaches 300,000. There are another 700,000 people working in sectors for which the automotive industry creates indirect employment, such as fuel, finance, insurance and transportation. In short, the Turkish automotive sector creates job opportunities for 1.25 million people. Considering the family members of each employee, the number of those sustaining their households from sector related employment reaches 4 million. The sector also contributes drastically to the country’s aggregate employment rate, which stands at 23.3 million, according to the Turkish Statistical Institute data for September 2007.
China tops the list
China, handling 10 percent of the world’s automotive production, ranked first in the list with 1.6 million people employed in the automotive sector, according to the OICA report based on 2005 data. The United States came second with 954,000 people, while Germany ranked third with 773,000 people. South Korea, known for its brands Kia and Hyundai, was tenth with 246,900 people employed in the automotive sector, just before Turkey, which still is ahead of many countries, such as the United Kingdom, Italy, Thailand, Canada, Sweden and Mexico. Europe’s sixth largest automotive producer Turkey was ranked as Europe’s fourth largest in terms of employment after Germany, Spain and France. Among Europe’s top four, Turkey managed to get ahead of all Eastern European countries except Russia.
The world’s automotive sector provides direct employment to nine million people. Together with indirect employment this figure reaches 50 million. In the 27 countries of the European Union (EU), employment opportunities of automotive sector supply 7 percent of aggregate employment. Some 2.3 million people are directly employed in the automotive sector in the EU, which supplies 33 percent of the world’s motor vehicle production with 16.1 million units, according to the data of the European Automobile Manufacturers Association (ACEA) for 2006. The sector in the EU employs 12.6 million people indirectly.
The leader sector
Turkey started automotive production in December 1966 with Ford Otosan, founded through the partnership of U.S.-based Ford and Koç Group, Turkey’s top industrial conglomerate. Turkey, which produced 1,760 automobiles in 1967, has now become an automotive center with 17 large companies producing for the entire world, according to the data of the Automotive Manufacturers Association (OSD).
The Turkish automotive sector produced over 1 million automobiles in 2006. Around 14 out of 1,000 vehicles in the world had a “Made in Turkey’ seal. With its export income of $15 billion, the sector got ahead of textile, which had long been the leader in the field. Since the end of 2007, the sector became Turkey’s most important with export figures reaching $20 billion, foreign trade surplus of $3.5 billion and its production approximating 1.2 million units. The Turkish automotive sector aims to produce two million units, to attain exports of $40 billion and to provide direct employment for 500,000 people by 2012.
Source: Turkish Daily News
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