Automotive sector in Turkey
The foundation of Turkey’s automotive industry dates back to the early 1960s. During a period of rapid industrialization and progress, this key sector transformed itself from assembly-based partnerships to a full-fledged industry with design capability and massive production capacity. Since 2000, original equipment manufacturers (OEM) have invested over USD 15 billion in their operations in Turkey. These investments significantly expanded their manufacturing capabilities, which in turn led Turkey to become an important part of the global value chain of international OEMs. Meeting and exceeding international quality and safety standards, today’s Turkish automotive industry is highly efficient and competitive thanks to value-added production.
- Leveraging a competitive and highly-skilled workforce combined with a dynamic local market and favorable geographical location, the vehicle production of 9 global OEMs in Turkey has increased by almost five times from 300,000s in 2002 to over 1.5 million units in 2018. This represents a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of around 10 percent during that period. Over the past five years alone, MAN has increased its production by 143 percent, Toyota by 95 percent, Ford by 52 percent, and Fiat by 35 percent.
- Significant growth posted by Turkey’s automotive sector led to Turkey becoming the 15th largest automotive manufacturer in the world and 5th largest in Europe by the end of 2018.
- Turkey has already become a center of excellence, particularly with respect to the production of commercial vehicles. By the end of 2018, Turkey was the number two producer of commercial vehicles (CVs) in Europe.
- Proven as a production hub of excellence, the Turkish automotive industry is now aiming at improving its R&D, design, and branding capabilities. As of 2019, 184 R&D and design centers belonging to automotive manufacturers and suppliers were operational in Turkey.
- Notable examples of global brands with product development, design, and engineering activities in Turkey include Ford, Fiat, Daimler, and AVL. Ford Otosan’s R&D center is one of Ford’s three largest global R&D centers, while Fiat’s R&D center in Bursa is the Italian company’s only center serving the European market outside its home country. Meanwhile, Daimler’s R&D center in Istanbul complements the German company’s truck and bus manufacturing operations in Turkey. AVL Turkey, which opened up its 2nd R&D center in Turkey, started to develop autonomous and hybrid vehicle technologies.
- Turkey offers a supportive environment on the supply chain side. There are around 1,100 component suppliers supporting the production of OEMs. With the parts going directly to the production lines of vehicle manufacturers, the localization rate of OEMs varies between 50 and 70 percent.
- Turkey is home to many global suppliers. There are more than 250 global suppliers that use Turkey as a production base, with 30 of them ranking among the 50 largest global suppliers.
- Auto manufacturers increasingly choose Turkey as a production base for their export sales. This is evidenced by the fact that 85 percent of vehicle production in Turkey was destined for foreign markets in 2018. More than 1.3 million vehicles were exported from Turkey to foreign markets in the same year. In addition, Turkey was the number one vehicle exporter to European markets with 1.1 million units in 2018.
For further information, you can visit: https://www.invest.gov.tr/en/sectors/pages/automotive.aspx
Source: Republic of Turkey Investment Office / link: https://www.invest.gov.tr/en/sectors/pages/automotive.aspx
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