Turkey's Auto Sales Contract 10% in 2012

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Turkey's domestic auto and van sales declined 10% in 2012 from the previous year to 778,761 units, figures from the Automotive Distributors Association (ODD) showed. The auto sales in 2012 dropped 6.27% to 556,280 units, while van sales shank 18.25% to 221,481 compared to 2011. In December alone, sales in the automobile and van market dropped 9.8% to 115,400.

Mustafa Bayraktar, the head of the ODD, said that the association expects the light vehicle market to remain flat year-over-year in 2013 if the economy grows 4% as expected. Turkey's total vehicle market contracted 11.5% in 2012 after a September tax increase on autos combined with slower economic growth.

Although recent guidance of auto companies varies in a wide range, automotive firms expect flat annual sales in 2013.

Renault to Increase Production

"Turkish car and van sales are expected to grow about 3% to 780,000 this year," said Ibrahim Aybar, CEO of Renault Mais, the sales joint venture between French automotive firm Renault (FR:RNO) (Paris, France) and Oyak Group, Turkey's military pension fund.

Separately, Renault plans to increase its production in Turkey. Renault Mais official Tarik Tunalioglu said that the company plans to increase its capacity utilization rate from 86% to 92% in Bursa plant, which has a production capacity of 360,000 units per year. Renault produces sedan models of Fluence, Clio 4 and Megane.

"More than half of our production this year will be the Clio 4 model," Tunalioglu said in a press conference in Istanbul today. The joint venture's sales in 2012 were $4.2 billion, he said.

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