Vehicle production in Turkey dropped 10.5% year on year (y/y) during January, reports Reuters, citing data released by the country's Automotive Manufacturers' Association (OSD). Last month, output decreased to 75,042 units from 83,808 units produced during January 2013. Turkish vehicle production also slid on a month-on-month basis, by 9.8% from 83,166 units in December 2013.
Significance: The fall in Turkish vehicle production stemmed primarily from contracted exports last month, when shipments of vehicles declined 10.8% y/y, to 51,423 units, valued at USD1.6 billion. Meanwhile, domestic vehicle sales are coming under pressure from the recent slumps in the Turkish lira against the euro and the US dollar, restrictions imposed by Turkey's Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency on car loans, and the increase in new car special consumption tax, effective from 1 January 2014. IHS Automotive currently anticipates that the light-vehicle market in Turkey will dip 7.5% y/y, to below 800,000 units, this year. Nevertheless, we expect an improvement in light-vehicle output during 2014, towards more than 1.1 million units.
