Turkey’s Automotive Industry on Steady Growth Track

Turkey’s automotive-manufacturing sector is thriving, with the industry planning to increase exports this year despite turmoil stemming from political instability at home and war in neighboring countries. According to data from the country’s Automotive Industry Assn., of the $142.6 billion in goods and services exported by Turkey in 2016, about $24.3 billion were manufactured by the automotive sector.

Speaking July 9 at the association’s general-assembly meeting in Istanbul, Chairman Kudret Ören said Turkish automakers expect to boost the value of their exports to $27 billion this year. The chairman of Turkey’s Association of Automotive Parts and Components Manufacturers, Alper Kanca, says despite the turmoil prompted by an attempted coup in July 2016, Turkey’s automotive sector last year reached its highest level of production of the past decade by manufacturing 1.48 million automobiles.

A government initiative will see public money devoted to new technology under its Industry 4.0 policy, Kanca says. He says with Turkey having manufacturing costs 10% to 15% lower than Europe’s, it has the potential to invest in and create new “smart factories” that could further boost productivity.

Kanca says while Turkey continues to break its own records in automotive production and exports (manufacturing 950,000 cars), this growth may be maintained only if the country’s auto sector embraces smart factories. Meanwhile, overall economic growth in Turkey is continuing despite the political disruption. The World Bank forecasts the country will see 3% growth this year, 3.5% in 2018, and 3.7% in 2019.