Vehicle sales in Turkey plunged 68% y/y to 23,028 units in September after declining 53% y/y in August, the Turkish Automotive Distributors’ Association (ODD) reported on October 2.

Vehicle sales have contracted on an annual basis for six consecutive months since April, with consumer demand in Turkey weakening as the country slips towards what might be heavy recession.

In January-September, Turkey’s overall vehicle sales were down 26% y/y to 463,456 units.

Sales of passenger cars fell by 24% y/y to 362,465 in the first nine months while the light commercial vehicles (LCV) market shrank 33% y/y to 100,991.

The ODD previously forecast that auto sales would amount to between 925,000 and 975,000 in 2018.

Turkish carmaker Tofas is to suspend production at its Bursa plant for nine days in October given the contraction in demand seen in its domestic market, the company said on September 26 in a bourse filing.

Turkey’s auto production declined for a fifth consecutive month, plunging by 34% y/y to 47,175 units in August, data from the Turkish Automotive Manufacturers’ Association (OSD) showed on September 17. The country has been hit by economic turmoil most evident in its ongoing currency crisis.

Turkey's consumer sentiment reading saw its biggest decline in at least 14 years in September, falling 13% m/m. That was marked down as the sharpest monthly decline recorded since 2004 when the index was first compiled, and followed the 7% m/m drop posted in August.

The index figure of 59.3 registered in September was the lowest level seen since September 2015, data from national statistics office TUIK released on September 20 also showed.

Turkey's vehicle sales decreased by 2.8% to 983,720 units in 2017.

In 2017, Turkey’s auto production increased by 13% y/y to a record high of 1.67mn units thanks to rising exports. In 2016, the country’s automotive output increased by 9% to 1.49mn units.