Auto sector eagerly awaits tax break
Posted by meb at October 29th, 2008
The Turkish automotive sector, which has been feeling the effects of the current crisis in global markets, is hoping to escape the turmoil with the help of a reduction in the Private Consumption Tax (ÖTV) that the government plans to institute in the near future.
The auto sector has fallen on hard times. Many car dealers have had to revise their targets for 2008. The sector longs for the kind of situation it found itself in at the end of last year, when car sales were up.
Vedat Gizer, president of Çukurova’s Authorized Car Dealers Union (YODER), said yesterday that the auto sector was struggling with stagnation and that they were looking forward to the tax reduction. “We had been seeing a boom, especially in the last four months of 2007, but now car sales are about to cease totally,” he explained. He underlined that with the recent increase in foreign exchange rates the sales of imported cars have declined dramatically and many companies will not be able meet their targets for 2008. “People will think twice before purchasing a car because of the uncertainty in the economy and the increase in interest rates,” he said, emphasizing that most consumers take out loans when buying a car. He noted that the forthcoming reduction in the ÖTV, recently announced by Finance Minister Kemal Unakıtan, would help automotive companies reach their targets.
Adana Chamber of Commerce (ATO) President Şaban Baş said he hoped the tax reduction would be put into effect as soon as possible. “The uncertainty in the domestic market should be dispersed,” he stressed. Likewise, Kemal Hangül, the deputy general manager of Arpel Otomotiv, the authorized dealer of Opel cars in Adana, explained that the ÖTV reduction will help the sector recover from its recent injuries. He noted that vehicle interest rates increased from 1.5 percent to 1.9 recently and that analysts expected Turkey’s total car sales this year to be 100,000 below the projected sale target. “The automotive sector will face serious problems in the coming months if the stagnation continues,” he added.
source: Today’s Zaman
Related posts:
