Turkish Autos Market in 2018 hit by currency depreciation collapsed by 35.1%, ending with 620.937 sales. Renault keeps the lead, ahead of Fiat, Volkswagen and Ford, all falling in double-digit. Fiat Egea is again the best-selling model.
Economic Environment
Turkey economy recorded a dismal fourth quarter, as the impact of the August 2018 currency crisis continued to reverberate. The manufacturing PMI was firmly in contractionary territory throughout the period on shrinking output and new orders, while business sentiment was decidedly pessimistic.
Moreover, consumer spending was hit by higher interest rates, still-elevated inflation and depressed household sentiment, with retail sales declining sharply in October and vehicle sales plummeting throughout Q4. This comes after comprehensive data showed that GDP growth slowed sharply in Q3 on soft private consumption and fixed investment.
The economy is set to perform poorly this year, depressed by restrictive financial conditions constraining private consumption and fixed investment. However, the external sector should provide some support. Currency volatility and the possibility of renewed geopolitical tensions pose significant downside risks.
Market Trend
Turkish domestic vehicles market in recent years suffered for a crisis in the 2014, mainly due to economic and political reason, but since early 2015 has taken a momentum hitting the all time record both in 2015 and 2016, approaching the milestone of 1 million units, before to moderately decline in the 2017 (-2.8%).
In the 2018, worsening on economic and social environment, huge inflation and currency depreciation hit the domestic demand even in the automotive sector.
Indeed, sales started falling in April with double-digit drops, keeping the negative trend for the rest of the year. Thus, the 2018 registered the lowest volume since 2009, ending the year with 620.937 units, down a disappointing 35.1%.
| Sales 2014 | Sales 2015 | Sales 2016 | Sales 2017 | Sales 2018 | '+/- 2018 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 767.681 | 968.015 | 983.732 | 956.194 | 620.937 | -35,1% |
Competitive Arena
At brand-wise, Renault is the 2018 market leader with 85.839 sales (-34.1%) with 13,7% market share.
Three brands are fighting for the second place with actually Fiat prevailing with 70.058 (-41.6%) over Volkswagen with 66.834 (-43.1%) and Ford with 65.428 (-41.1%).
In fifth place Toyota with 33.978 (-24.8%) followed by Hyundai with 33.502 (-35.9%), Peugeot with 30.152 (-25.5%), Dacia with 29.918 (-38.1%), Honda with 28.661 (+8.5%) and in 10th place Nissan with 26.346 (-24.3%).
At model wise, the 2018 best-selling model was the Fiat Egea, for the third consecutive year, with 36.649 (-23.2%) ahead of the former leader, the Renault Megane with 31.502 sales (-27.5%) and the Renault Clio with 26.460 (-28.8%).
Updates on the top 100 Models ranking are available here.
Tables with sales figures
In the tables below we report sales for all Brands, top 10 Manufacturers Group and top 10 Models
