The demand for sport utility vehicles (SUVs) in Türkiye has gained pace in the first 11 months of this year, according to industry data, in a trend that comes as the country’s first domestically produced electric car brand is set to hit the roads.
Some 208,693 units of SUVs have been sold from January through November this year, according to the Automotive Distributers and Mobility Association (ODMD) data, up 15.4% versus the same period of 2021.
Consumer preferences boosted the share of SUVs in overall car sales to 41.3%, up from 35% a year ago, according to the data that showed sedans’ share dropping to 37.2%, down from 39.4%.
Some 188,244 sedan automobiles were sold in the first 11 months.Hatchbacks sit third with a 19.7% share, down from 23.7% in 2021, and 99,815 sales, the data showed.
Overall sales of passenger cars and light commercial vehicles in Türkiye slipped 1% year-over-year in the January-November period to 688,063 units, the ODMD said, driven by soaring prices and as problems from logistics bottlenecks to an ongoing chip shortage curbed production.
Passenger car sales were down 2.4% from a year ago to 505,886 vehicles, while light commercial vehicles saw a drop of 3.4% to 162,177 according to the ODD.
Yet sales in November jumped 36.7% year-over-year to 82,311 units, up from 60,216 a year ago. Sales of both passenger cars and light commercial vehicles were up 37.8% and 34%, respectively.
The share of SUVs is expected to gain even further pace once Türkiye’s first domestically produced electric vehicle brand hits the roads in the first months of 2023.
Togg began mass production in late October and sales of its first model, the C-segment SUV, are set to begin at the end of the first quarter of next year.
It will be the first electric sport utility vehicle produced in continental Europe by a nontraditional manufacturer.
The vehicle is being produced by a consortium of five Turkish companies called the Automobile Initiative Group of Türkiye, or Togg, in cooperation with the Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Türkiye (TOBB).
Besides the SUV, Togg will manufacture another four models – a sedan, C-hatchback, B-SUV and B-MPV – through 2030. Mass production of the SUV will be followed by the sedan.
The brand aims to produce 1 million vehicles across the five segments by 2030.
The current production capacity stands at around 100,000 vehicles per year, a figure that is expected to reach 175,000 once the Togg’s factory reaches its full capacity.