Turkey's aoutomotive industry grows 13 percent

Turkey's auto market's volume reached 323,000 units in the first five months of 2013, a 13 percent increase in comparison to the same period of 2012, while the total production did not change, but the total export and the sales of imported vehicles increased, the Automotive Manufacturers Association (OSD) said yesterday. The production of passenger cars decreased to 248,000 units by 4 percent, although the total production, including the production of passenger cars, light and heavy commercial vehicles, trucks and buses, remained the same at around 467,000 units. Meanwhile, Turkey's automotive exports reached 351,000 during the first five months of 2013, 196,000 of them were passenger cars, marking a 7 percent increase in comparison to the same period of 2012. The total of passenger car sales increased by 21 percent, while the sales of imported passenger cars increased 34 percent but sales of domestic passenger cars decreased by 11 percent.