Setback for Turkish recovery as November auto sales come in flat

Setback for Turkish recovery as November auto sales come in flat
By bne IntelliNews December 3, 2019

Auto sales, which enjoyed 82% y/y and 128% y/y increases in September and October, edged down 0.05% on an annual basis to 58,176 units in November, data from the Automotive Distributors’ Association (ODD) shows.

Passenger car sales rose only 3.46% y/y to 47,800 units, after jumping 101% and 138% on an annual basis in the previous two months, while the light commercial vehicle (LCV) market contracted nearly 14%.

Urged on by government officials looking for a quick and fast rebound from Turkey's recession-tainted year, state-owned lenders have been offering cheaper money to consumers to revive domestic demand. The November auto sales data imply that consumers could be losing their appetite for taking on new debt. 

In January-November, total auto sales amounted to 388,560 units, which translated into a 28.5% y/y decline. Passenger car and LCV sales plunged 26% y/y to 316,000 units and 39% y/y to 72,000 units, respectively.

The ODD expects total auto sales to be between 450,000 and 500,000 units this year while its forecast for 2020 is 525,000-575,000 units.

The poor sales data in November signalled that domestic consumer demand may be weakening again.

The latest GDP figures released on December 2 showed that household consumption rose 1.5% y/y in the third quarter after dropping 7.7%, 4.9% and 1% in the previous three quarters, respectively.

Turkey's Vehicle Industry
(units) Oct y/y Jan-Oct y/y
P. Car Production 93,575 5% 794,156 -8%
Total Production 132,155 1% 1,189,539 -8%
P. Car Sales 3,996 138% 268,624 -29%
Total Sales 50,304 126% 339,546 -32%
P. Car Imports 28,694 158% 158,417 -37%
Total Imports 33,687 142% 191,491 -38%
P. Car Exports 82,400 -6% 676,486 -8%
Total Exports 117,524 -8% 1,031,296 -6%
P. Car Exports (USD mn) 1,202 1% 9,575 -7%
Total Exports (USD mn) 2,898 -3% 25,888 -4%
Tractor Production 2,656 50% 19,134 -44%
Grand Total 134,811 1% 1,208,673 -9%
source: osd

Data

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