Posted by meb at July 11th, 2008

Turkey saw a 31.8 percent increase in the production of vehicles in the first six months of 2008 compared to the same period last year.

According to a statement released by the Automotive Industry Association (OSD) yesterday, 708,962 vehicles were produced between January and June, while 537,955 had been produced in the same period last year.

A total of 113,168 automobiles were produced last month, indicating a 1.6 percent decrease compared with the same month last year. Total production, however, increased by 12.9 percent in the first six months of the year over the same period last year.

Compared with the first half of 2007, the first six months of 2008 saw a 19.3 percent increase in the number of passenger automobiles manufactured, rising from 315,116 up to 375,843. Of total vehicle production from January to June, there was a 105 percent increase in the volume of minibuses assembled, a 54 percent increase in pick-up trucks, a 28 percent increase in small trucks, a 16 percent increase in buses and an 8 percent increase in the number large trucks. Tractor production decreased by 12 percent, down to 15,000 units.

When compared with the first six months of 2007, sales of transport vehicles in the first half of 2008 saw a 12 percent increase, with 280,720 units sold. Automobile sales saw an 18.2 percent increase, with 164,455 sold. Of these, 66 percent were imported vehicles. As for automotive exports, this sector also rose 45.5 percent, reaching $14.6 billion. The total number of transportation vehicles exported rose 36 percent, with 557,533 vehicles.

The analysis published by the OSD noted that this past June saw the lowest level of demand since 2004, signaling some economic slowdown. The same report, however, predicted a 5 percent increase in the general market for 2008. The report said 2008 had seen a slowdown in growth, adding: “We are estimating that the total market will be around 600,000. In the meantime, due to the negative expectations connected with the global atmosphere in general, our industry has already begun to receive information about economic shrinkage in our basic market, the EU. It is expected that this will affect the speed of our exports during the second half of this year. This being the situation, we are estimating that the total number of vehicles produced this year will be 1.3 billion, rather than the 1.4 billion we had estimated at the beginning of the year.”
source: Today’s Zaman