The automotive industry achieved its highest export in 10 months.

Due to its proximity to the European market and labor potential, Turkey has become a central hub for global automotive manufacturers, and the increase in the sector's export figures has drawn attention.

According to data compiled from the Turkish Exporters Assembly (TİM), Turkey's exports reached 216 billion 383 million 305 thousand dollars in the January-October period, marking a 3.2% increase compared to the same period last year.

A FIRST IN THE AUTOMOTIVE SECTOR

Turkey's automotive exports increased by 6.5% in January-October 2024 compared to the same period last year, reaching 30 billion 511 million 79 thousand dollars. In October, the sector's exports also rose by 16.4% compared to the same period last year, amounting to 3 billion 581 million 928 thousand dollars.

Thus, the automotive sector set a new export record by exceeding 30 billion dollars in external sales for the first time in the January-October periods. The sector had recorded exports of 28 billion 652 million 177 thousand dollars in the same period last year.

In the January-October period, the share of the automotive industry's exports in total exports was calculated to be 14.1%.

When looking at the export figures of the automotive sector's sub-groups, exports included 219.1 million dollars for other vehicles in the automotive industry, 8.4 million dollars for mineral fuels, mineral oils, and products, 17.8 billion dollars for the main automotive industry, 12.4 billion dollars for the automotive sub-industry, and 70 million dollars for defense and aerospace industry exports.

THE MOST EXPORTS TO GERMANY

The highest exports in the automotive industry were made to Germany, amounting to 4 billion dollars, followed by the United Kingdom with 3.5 billion dollars, France with 3.4 billion dollars, Italy with 2.7 billion dollars, and Spain with 2 billion dollars.

In terms of value, the United Kingdom topped the list for export growth. In the January-October period, the automotive sector's exports to the country increased by 863 million dollars. Following the UK in export growth were Slovenia with 292.7 million dollars, Romania with 261.4 million dollars, Italy with 224.4 million dollars, and the USA with 135.4 million dollars.

The automotive industry exported 1.4 billion dollars to Slovenia, 979 million dollars to the USA, and 957 million dollars to Romania.

THE MOST EXPORTS FROM KOCAELİ

When looking at the provincial basis, the highest exports in the automotive sector in the first 10 months of the year were made from Kocaeli, amounting to 7.8 billion dollars. During this period, exports from Istanbul were 6.9 billion dollars, from Bursa 6.1 billion dollars, from Sakarya 4.7 billion dollars, and from Ankara 1.2 billion dollars.

AUTOMOTIVE EXPORTS ACCELERATED AFTER THE PANDEMIC

After declining in 2019 and 2020 due to the effects of the pandemic, automotive exports showed a rapid recovery with the start of the normalization process worldwide.

In the January-October period of 2019, automotive exports were 25.4 billion dollars, reflecting a 3.7% decrease compared to the same period of the previous year, while in the 10-month period of 2020, it decreased by 20.9% to 20.1 billion dollars.

The sector's exports recorded positive momentum in the following years. The sector's exports increased by 19% to 23.9 billion dollars in the same period of 2021.

Automotive exports reached 25 billion dollars in the January-October period of 2022, reflecting a 4.7% increase, and reached 28.7 billion dollars in the same period of 2023, marking a 14.8% rise.