Page 40 - TURKRptSep21

In the hatchback segment, Oyak Renault’s locally-produced Renault Clio was the market leader with 17,907 units sold in H1, followed by Hyundai Assan’s locally-produced Hyundai i20 at 8,120 units.
In the sedan segment, Tofas’ locally-produced Fiat Egea took first place with 29,515 units sold, followed by Toyota’s locally-produced Corolla at 24,931 units.
Oyak Renault’s locally-produced sedan Megane was third at 16,311 and Honda’s locally-produced Civic was fifth at 12,786 units.
Turkey’s combined sales of passenger cars and light commercial vehicles (LCVs) were down 45% y/y in July.
Total sales amounted to 47,850 units with passenger car sales declining 48% y/y to 36,000 and the LCV market shrinking 36% y/y to 11,500.
From January to July, the auto market expanded by 30% y/y, with 395,000 vehicles sold. Passenger car sales grew 27% y/y to 346,700 and LCV sales rose 40% y/y to 46,000 units.
In January-July, 1,019 electric vehicles (EVs) were sold while hybrid car sales amounted to 28,421.
On August 13, the price threshold for vehicle taxes was raised in some lower tier tax brackets.
The special consumption tax rates were kept unchanged.
"Annual sales could exceed our forecast of 775,000-825,000 with the amendment," Hayri Erce, head of the Automotive Distributors' Association (ODD), said.
According to business daily Dunya, prices of best-selling passenger cars will decline following the tax regulation.
The daily calculated that the price of a Fiat Egea Urban, which presently sells for Turkish lira (TRY) 286,000 ($33,500), may decline to TRY 238,000 while the price of a Totoya Taris is expected to drop to TRY233,000 from TRY279,000. A Renault Megan Sedan will become TRY 50,000 cheaper at TRY302,000, according to the daily.
New tax thresholds failed to boost car loans appetite in Turkey. Car loans stock in fact declined to TRY10.72bn ($1.3bn) in the week ending August 20 from TRY10.78 the previous week.
Demand for cars has picked up amid the new tax regulation. However, many potential buyers return home empty-handed because they cannot find the car they want to buy due to supply problems caused by the shortage of semiconductor chips.
There are not enough cars in companies’ inventories to meet demand.
In August, a total of 62,000 passenger cars and light commercial vehicles (LCVs) were sold, but sales could have hit at least 90,000 units if there had been enough cars in inventories.
There is industry pressure for the government to take steps to make car loans more affordable.
40 TURKEY Country Report September 2021 www.intellinews.com