We imported 7 out of every 10 cars: New brands, SCT tax bases, and model transitions were influential

According to OSD data, while the share of imports in the light commercial vehicle market rose to 73.3 percent in July, the share of imports in the passenger car market is estimated to be at the 73 percent level, although not explicitly stated in the released data. Data for the first 7 months, covering January-July 2024, showed that the share of imports reached 70 percent in passenger cars and 69 percent in the light commercial vehicle class. These figures revealed that approximately 375 thousand of the 536 thousand passenger cars sold in the first 7 months, and approximately 93 thousand of the 135 thousand light commercial vehicles, were imported.

AUTOMOTIVE PRODUCTION FELL BY 5 PERCENT

According to the released report, total automotive production fell by 5 percent in the January-July period, totaling 823 thousand 636 units. During this period, passenger car production decreased by 2 percent compared to the same period last year to 542 thousand 177 units, while production in the commercial vehicle group fell by 12 percent, in the heavy commercial vehicle group by 18 percent, and in the light commercial vehicle group by 11 percent.

380 THOUSAND 383 CARS WERE EXPORTED

In the same period, the total capacity utilization rate of the automotive industry, which has a total capacity of approximately 2 million units/year, was 73 percent. In the first 7 months of the year, total automotive exports fell by 1 percent in terms of units, while passenger car exports increased by 1 percent. During this period, total exports reached 581 thousand 865 units, and passenger car exports reached 380 thousand 383 units.

According to the report by Taylan Özgür Dil, another important factor increasing the share of imports in the automotive sector has been the SCT base limits, which were last updated in November 2022. So much so that with the price hikes on new vehicles in June 2023, the 45, 50, 60, and 70 percent SCT base limits lost their validity, and since that date—for more than a year—an 80 percent SCT has been applied to all cars sold.

'SINGLE-DIGIT FIGURES FOR INFLATION: 2026 AND BEYOND'

However, no update to the tax bases is expected due to current economic policies. OSD Chairman of the Board Cengiz Eroldu also stated the following regarding the issue at the last press conference held in July: "There is a cooling of demand that the government is also stating very clearly.

Therefore, we do not foresee an update to the SCT tax bases. The return of inflation to single-digit figures will likely be in 2026 and beyond. It seems they will continue these interest rate and tightening, cooling efforts until then," he said.

News Source: 12punto