The brand with the highest sales in the Turkish automobile and light commercial vehicle market last year was Fiat, followed by Renault and Ford, respectively.
According to Automotive Distributors and Mobility Association (ODMD) data, Turkiye’s automobile and light commercial vehicle total market grew by 57.4% on an annual basis in 2023. Thus, 1 million 232 thousand 635 sales were achieved, exceeding the 1 million mark for the first time in the sector. Previously, the highest sales were made in 2016 with 983 thousand 720 units.
In the January-December period of 2023, automobile sales increased by 63.2% compared to the same period last year, reaching 967 thousand 341 units, and light commercial vehicle sales increased by 39.2%, reaching 265 thousand 294 units.
Last year, Fiat ranked first in total sales, including passenger cars and light commercial vehicles, with 193 thousand 622 units. Fiat was followed by Renault with 135 thousand 645 units and Ford with 102 thousand 380 sales.
Volkswagen ranked fourth with 88 thousand 776 sales and Peugeot ranked fifth with 78 thousand 632 sales.
Top 5 of automobile sales
Considering automobile sales, the brand that sold the most last year was Fiat again with 125 thousand 348. Fiat was followed by Renault with 117 thousand 491 sales and Volkswagen with 71 thousand 93 sales.
Opel ranked fourth with 61 thousand 57 sales, while Peugeot ranked fifth with 58 thousand 549 sales.
Luxury car sales
In the ODMD list, which includes a total of 53 brands, sales were made from all brands except Smart last year. While Togg’s deliveries were 19 thousand 583 units, Tesla’s sales were 12 thousand 150.
In the luxury automobile group, 1158 Porsches, 533 Maserati, 507 Lexus, 121 Jaguar, 36 Bentley, 25 Ferrari, 23 Aston Martin and 22 Lamborghini were sold last year.
Sales of Chinese brands
Especially last year, there was a significant increase in the interest of Chinese brands in Turkiye. This situation was also reflected in the number of companies entering the market. With the inclusion of BYD, the world’s leading electric car manufacturer, in the Turkish automotive market, the number of brands originating from China increased to 9.
Chinese brands such as Skywell, MG, Chery, Leapmotor, Seres, Voyah, Hongqi, DFSK and BYD made sales in Turkiye. While DFSK and Chery offer cars with internal combustion engines for sale in the Turkish market, MG, both electric and internal combustion, and other brands appear in Turkiye with their electric models. Voyah, which sells luxury segment cars, is not listed on ODMD.
Chery stood out among Chinese automotive brands with sales of 40 thousand 590 units, followed by MG with 14 thousand 458 units and Skywell with 2 thousand 541 sales. While BYD, one of the world’s largest electric car manufacturers that has just entered the market, sold 839 units with its single model Atto 3, the sales of the Chinese luxury car brand HONGQI were recorded as 19 units.
Top 5 of light commercial
Looking at the light commercial vehicle segment, Ford was at the top of the list with 71 thousand 444 sales last year. Ford was followed by Fiat with 68 thousand 274 sales and Peugeot with 20 thousand 83 sales.
Renault was fourth with 18 thousand 154 sales and Volkswagen was fifth with 17 thousand 683 sales.
Source: AA / Prepared by Irem Yildiz