Automotive industry in Turkey - statistics & facts

Developing in the period of rapid industrialization in the 1960s, Turkey has been an important part of the global automotive industry value chain. The Turkish automotive industry has a large-scale production capacity, as well as strong engineering and design facilities. In 2021, the industry received 976 million U.S. dollars worth of investments, mainly for new model development projects. Even though there was a slight decrease observed lately due to the negative impact of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic on manufacturing, nearly 1.3 million motor vehicles were produced in the country.

International trade

The Turkish automotive industry has been the export champion of the country for nearly the last two decades. After the industry recovered from the pandemic, the country’s automobile exports increased again from 2021 and peaked at 35 billion U.S. dollars in 2023. In the meantime, Ford Otosan became the leading motor vehicle manufacturer based on export quantity, with a volume of over 311 thousand units. In 2022, European countries were the main markets for motor vehicle exports for Turkey. Germany led the ranking, of which trade value equaled over three billion. Overall, passenger cars became the most exported vehicle type from Turkey. The volume of exported passenger cars surpassed 633 thousand units in 2023. On the contrary, import volume of passenger cars has been decreasing since 2016. However, in 2023, the import volume witnessed a significant increase of almost eighty percent, achieving a record-breaking level for the past 14 years.

Which cars are Turkish consumers purchasing?

Even though vehicle prices have been rising in recent years, road vehicle registrations in the country, especially passenger cars, generally increased from 2010 to 2022, reaching roughly 26.5 million in total. Even though the competition between the various brands remained strong, selling the most automobiles and light commercial vehicles, Fiat became the most preferred brand to purchase new vehicles for Turkish consumers in 2023. When it comes to important car features for consumers, more than half of the car owners in the country chose to buy cars with parking assistance and wireless smartphone connection. Finally, vehicles with electric or hybrid engines have gained some market share in Turkey lately, and their popularity has been increasing among new car buyers. According to a survey conducted in 2022, 44 percent of the respondents stated that they would prefer hybrid or electric engines in their next car.
This text provides general information. Statista assumes no liability for the information given being complete or correct. Due to varying update cycles, statistics can display more up-to-date data than referenced in the text.
Published by Zeynep Dierks, Feb 5, 2024

Key insights

Total number of registered vehicles in Turkey
28.74m
Number of cars per 1,000 inhabitants in Turkey
167
Number of employees in the automotive industry in Turkey
56.7k
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