The automotive industry in

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula in ...

plays an important role in the

manufacturing sector In macroeconomics, the secondary sector of the economy is an economic sector in the three-sector theory that describes the role of manufacturing. It encompasses industries that produce a finished, usable product or are involved in construction. ...

of the

Turkish economy Turkey has an emerging market economy, as defined by the International Monetary Fund. The country is a founding member of the OECD (1961) and the G-20 major economies (1999). Since 1995, Turkey is a party to the European Union–Turkey Custo ...

. The companies operating in the Turkish automotive sector are mainly located in the

Marmara Region The Marmara Region ( Turkish: ''Marmara Bölgesi'') is a geographical region of Turkey. Located in northwestern Turkey, it is bordered by Greece and the Aegean Sea to the west, Bulgaria and the Black Sea to the north, the Black Sea Region to the ...

. In 2015 Turkey produced over 1.3 million motor vehicles, ranking as the 14th largest producer in the world. With a cluster of car-makers and parts suppliers, the Turkish automotive sector has become an integral part of the global network of production bases, exporting nearly $20 billion worth of motor vehicles and components. In 2017 nearly 85% of exports went to Europe. Global car manufacturers with production plants include

Fiat Fiat Automobiles S.p.A. (, , ; originally FIAT, it, Fabbrica Italiana Automobili di Torino, lit=Italian Automobiles Factory of Turin) is an Italian automobile manufacturer, formerly part of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, and since 2021 a subsidiary ...

/ Tofaş,

Oyak-Renault Oyak Renault Otomobil Fabrikaları or Oyak-Renault is a Turkish automotive manufacturer located in Bursa. It is co-owned by OYAK (Turkish: Ordu Yardımlaşma Kurumu, English: Army Pension Fund) and Renault. Oyak owns 49% and Renault owns 51% of th ...

, Hyundai,

Toyota is a Japanese multinational automotive manufacturer headquartered in Toyota City, Aichi, Japan. It was founded by Kiichiro Toyoda and incorporated on . Toyota is one of the largest automobile manufacturers in the world, producing about 10 ...

Honda is a Japanese public multinational conglomerate manufacturer of automobiles, motorcycles, and power equipment, headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Honda has been the world's largest motorcycle manufacturer since 1959, reaching a product ...

and

Ford Ford commonly refers to: * Ford Motor Company, an automobile manufacturer founded by Henry Ford * Ford (crossing), a shallow crossing on a river Ford may also refer to: Ford Motor Company * Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company * Ford F ...

Otosan Ford Otomotiv Sanayi A.Ş. (''Ford Automotive Industry'') is an automotive manufacturing company based in Turkey that is equally owned by Ford Motor Company and Koç Holding. It was established in its current form in 1977, with original relati ...

. The foundations of the industry were laid in the 1950s when TOE (Türk Otomotiv Endüstrileri A.Ş.) started producing REO military truck and later trucks by

International Harvester The International Harvester Company (often abbreviated by IHC, IH, or simply International ( colloq.)) was an American manufacturer of agricultural and construction equipment, automobiles, commercial trucks, lawn and garden products, household e ...

. A brief foray in car production was stopped short. In 1961 the first domestic car

Devrim Devrim (, meaning ''Revolution'' in Turkish) was the first ever automobile designed and produced in Turkey. Automotive Industry Congress On 15 May 1961, the ''Otomotiv Endüstri Kongresi'' (Automotive Industry Congress) was opened by Presiden ...

was made by a train manufacturer TÜLOMSAŞ. With the establishment of the

assembly factory in 1959,

mass production Mass production, also known as flow production or continuous production, is the production of substantial amounts of standardized products in a constant flow, including and especially on assembly lines. Together with job production and batc ...

of the domestic car

Anadol Anadol was Turkey's first domestic mass-production passenger vehicle company. Its first model, Anadol A1 (1966–1975) was the second Turkish car after the ill-fated Devrim sedan of 1961. Anadol cars and pick-ups were manufactured by Otosan O ...

started in 1966.

History

In 1929 the first car was assembled in

Istanbul ) , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = 34000 to 34990 , area_code = +90 212 (European side) +90 216 (Asian side) , registration_plate = 34 , blank_name_sec2 = GeoTLD , blank_in ...

Ford Motor Company Ford Motor Company (commonly known as Ford) is an American multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Dearborn, Michigan, United States. It was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. The company sells automobile ...

. 48 cars were produced daily. However, production ended due to the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagion ...

of the 1930s. In 1954 the

Jeep Jeep is an American automobile marque, now owned by multi-national corporation Stellantis. Jeep has been part of Chrysler since 1987, when Chrysler acquired the Jeep brand, along with remaining assets, from its previous owner American Motors ...

factory was established for the production of Turkey's

Willys-Overland Willys (pronounced , "Willis" ) was a brand name used by Willys–Overland Motors, an American automobile company, founded by John North Willys. It was best known for its design and production of World War II era and later military jeeps (M ...

vehicles in Tuzla, Turkey. In 1959 the

factory was established in Istanbul to produce the models of the

under licence in Turkey. Production of the

Ford Consul The Ford Consul is a car that was manufactured by Ford of Britain from 1951 until 1962. The name was later revived for a model produced by Ford in both the UK and in Germany from 1972 until 1975. Between 1951 and 1962, the Consul was the four-cy ...

at the Otosan factory began in 1960. In 1961 the

sedan was manufactured at the Tülomsaş factory in

Eskişehir Eskişehir ( , ; from "old" and "city") is a city in northwestern Turkey and the capital of the Eskişehir Province. The urban population of the city is 898,369 with a metropolitan population of 797,708. The city is located on the banks of the ...

. It was the first indigenously designed and produced Turkish automobile. In 1964 the production of the

Austin Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the seat and largest city of Travis County, with portions extending into Hays and Williamson counties. Incorporated on December 27, 1839, it is the 11th-most-populous city i ...

and

Morris Morris may refer to: Places Australia *St Morris, South Australia, place in South Australia Canada * Morris Township, Ontario, now part of the municipality of Morris-Turnberry * Rural Municipality of Morris, Manitoba ** Morris, Mani ...

vehicles of the

British Motor Corporation The British Motor Corporation Limited (BMC) was a UK-based vehicle manufacturer, formed in early 1952 to give effect to an agreed merger of the Morris and Austin businesses.Morris-Austin Merger Company Named. ''The Times'', Friday, 29 Februar ...

began at the BMC factory in İzmir. The BMC brand was later fully acquired by Turkey's Çukurova Group in 1989, which currently produces all BMC models in the world. In 1966

became the first mass-produced Turkish automobile brand. All Anadol models were produced by the Otosan factory in Istanbul. In 1968 the Tofaş factory was opened in

Bursa ( grc-gre, Προῦσα, Proûsa, Latin: Prusa, ota, بورسه, Arabic:بورصة) is a city in northwestern Turkey and the administrative center of Bursa Province. The fourth-most populous city in Turkey and second-most populous in the ...

for producing

models under licence. In 1969 the

factory was established in Bursa for producing

Renault Groupe Renault ( , , , also known as the Renault Group in English; legally Renault S.A.) is a French multinational automobile manufacturer established in 1899. The company produces a range of cars and vans, and in the past has manufactured ...

models. Other global automotive manufacturers such as

Opel Opel Automobile GmbH (), usually shortened to Opel, is a German automobile manufacturer which has been a subsidiary of Stellantis since 16 January 2021. It was owned by the American automaker General Motors from 1929 until 2017 and the PSA Grou ...

, Hyundai,

Mercedes-Benz Mercedes-Benz (), commonly referred to as Mercedes and sometimes as Benz, is a German luxury and commercial vehicle automotive brand established in 1926. Mercedes-Benz AG (a Mercedes-Benz Group subsidiary established in 2019) is headquartere ...

and

MAN Truck & Bus MAN Truck & Bus SE (formerly MAN Nutzfahrzeuge AG, ) is a subsidiary of Traton, and one of the leading international providers of commercial vehicles. Headquartered in Munich, Germany, MAN Truck & Bus produces vans in the range from 3.0 to 5.5 t ...

produce automobiles, vans, buses and trucks in their Turkish factories. There are also a number of Turkish bus and truck brands, such as BMC,

Otokar Otokar Otomotiv ve Savunma Sanayi A.Ş., also known simply as Otokar, is a Turkish bus and military vehicle manufacturer headquartered in Sakarya, Turkey. Otokar is a subsidiary of Koç Holding. History Otokar was founded in 1963 as Turkey's ...

and TEMSA. By 2004, Turkey was exporting 518,000 vehicles a year, mostly to the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been ...

member states. In 2006, the

European Investment Bank The European Investment Bank (EIB) is the European Union's investment bank and is owned by the EU Member States. It is one of the largest supranational lenders in the world. The EIB finances and invests both through equity and debt solution ...

loaned Tofaş €175 million to jointly develop and produce with PSA Peugeot Citroën and Fiat Auto small commercial vehicles for the European market. The loan, part-financing for total investments estimated at €400 million, was intended to result in an important expansion of the company's production capabilities and create around 5,000 new jobs. The vehicles will be produced at the manufacturing plant of Tofaş in

with an additional, initial, annual capacity of 135.000 cars, due to roll off the assembly line in late 2007. The first official introduction of Etox Zafer took place on 30 August 2007. Like in many countries, the car manufacturing industry has been significantly affected by the

global financial crisis Global means of or referring to a globe and may also refer to: Entertainment * ''Global'' (Paul van Dyk album), 2003 * ''Global'' (Bunji Garlin album), 2007 * ''Global'' (Humanoid album), 1989 * ''Global'' (Todd Rundgren album), 2015 * Bruno ...

. In March 2009, Turkey's Automotive Industry Association (OSD) said the automotive production fell by 63% on year in the first two months of 2009, as exports dropped by 61.6% in the same period. In 2019, the high automotive export figures were boosted by the substantial increase in sales to the Netherlands and the U.S., which saw a rise of 131% and 55%, respectively. According to Uludağ Automotive Industry Exporters.

Manufacturers

Active

* BMC * Bora * Diardi * Erkunt * Etox *

FNSS Defence Systems FNSS Savunma Sistemleri A.Ş. ( en, FNSS Defence Systems A.Ş.) is a Turkish defense manufacturer founded in 1988. It is owned 51% by Nurol Holding of Turkey and 49% by British–American firm BAE Systems Inc., and operates facilities located in ...

Ford Otosan Ford Otomotiv Sanayi A.Ş. (''Ford Automotive Industry'') is an automotive manufacturing company based in Turkey that is equally owned by Ford Motor Company and Koç Holding. It was established in its current form in 1977, with original relation ...

* Hyundai * Isuzu *

Karsan Karsan ( tr, Karsan Otomotiv Sanayii ve Ticaret A.Ş. English: Karsan Automotive Industry and Trade Joint-Stock Company) is a Turkish commercial vehicles manufacturer, based in Akçalar, Nilüfer, Bursa Province. "Karsan" is an acronym for "Kar ...

* Kral * Onuk *

Pilotcar
* TEMSA * Tofaş * TOGG *

* Volkicar

Defunct

* Askam *

* EVT Motor * Imza * Otokar Renault Véhicules Industriels * Otoser * Özaltın

Production

In 2015 Turkey produced over 1.3 million motor vehicles, ranking as the 14th largest producer in the world. In 2012, Turkey produced more than 1 million motor vehicles. Turkey produced 1,124,982

motor vehicle A motor vehicle, also known as motorized vehicle or automotive vehicle, is a self-propelled land vehicle, commonly wheeled, that does not operate on rails (such as trains or trams) and is used for the transportation of people or cargo. The vehi ...

s in 2010, ranking as the 7th largest automotive producer in Europe; behind Germany (5,819,614), France (3,174,260),

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

(2,770,435), the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and Nor ...

(1,648,388),

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eight ...

(1,508,358) and Italy (1,211,594), respectively. In 2008 Turkey produced 1,147,110 motor vehicles, ranking as the 6th largest producer in Europe (behind the United Kingdom and above Italy) and the 15th largest producer in the world. The combined capacity of the 6 companies producing passenger cars stood at 726,000 units per year in 2002, reaching 991,621 units per year in 2006. In 2002, Fiat/Tofaş had 34% of this capacity, Oyak/Renault 31%, Hyundai/Assan and Toyota 14% each, Honda 4%, and Ford/Otosan 3%. With a cluster of car-makers and parts suppliers, the Turkish automotive sector has become an integral part of the global network of production bases, exporting over $22,944,000,000 worth of motor vehicles and components in 2008.

Domestic Turkish car

Existing diesel vehicles cause

air pollution in Turkey Air pollution in Turkey is the most lethal of the nation's environmental issues, with almost everyone across the country exposed to more than World Health Organization guidelines. Over 30,000 people die each year from air pollution-related illne ...

. On 2 November 2017, Turkey announced that five Turkish companies, under coordination by the

Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey The Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey ( tr, Türkiye Odalar ve Borsalar Birliği, TOBB for short) is a confederation of all local chambers of commerce, industry and maritime as well as commodity exchanges in Turkey. The union w ...

, decided to take part in the consortium for domestically-made EV production, which was established in 2018 with the name TOGG. The first prototypes, designed by

Pininfarina Pininfarina S.p.A. (short for Carrozzeria Pininfarina) is an Italian car design firm and coachbuilder, with headquarters in Cambiano, Turin, Italy. The company was founded by Battista "Pinin" Farina in 1930. On 14 December 2015, the Indian ...

, were presented to the media in 2019 and commercial sales are scheduled to begin by 2022. The electric cars will be produced in five models (C-segment hatchback, C-segment sedan, C-segment MPV, C-segment SUV and B-segment SUV) and the initial production rate will be 175,000 vehicles per annum. Production may not be enough to avoid the risk to the

economy of Turkey Turkey has an emerging market economy, as defined by the International Monetary Fund. The country is a founding member of the OECD (1961) and the G-20 major economies (1999). Since 1995, Turkey is a party to the European Union–Turkey Custo ...

of high oil import bills in the mid-2020s. The TOGG consortium includes the following Turkish companies: * Anadolu Group * BMC * Kıraça Holding *

Turkcell Turkcell İletişim Hizmetleri A.Ş. (''lit. Turkcell Communication Services'') (, ) is the leading mobile phone operator of Turkey, based in Istanbul. The company has 39,3 million subscribers as of September 2021. In 2015, the company's number of ...

Vestel Vestel is a Turkish home and professional appliances manufacturing company consisting of 18 companies specialised in electronics, major appliances and information technology. Vestel's headquarters and production plant are located in Manisa, wh ...

2 and 3 wheelers

Turkey manufactures

electric bicycles An electric bicycle (e-bike, eBike, etc.) is a motorized bicycle with an integrated electric motor used to assist propulsion. Many kinds of e-bikes are available worldwide, but they generally fall into two broad categories: bikes that assist ...

, escooters and 3 wheelers.

Lorries

Electric lorries are produced.

Batteries

Despite large reserves of amorphous

graphite Graphite () is a crystalline form of the element carbon. It consists of stacked layers of graphene. Graphite occurs naturally and is the most stable form of carbon under standard conditions. Synthetic and natural graphite are consumed on lar ...

not enough is mined and there are missing links in processing it into negative

electrodes An electrode is an electrical conductor used to make contact with a nonmetallic part of a circuit (e.g. a semiconductor, an electrolyte, a vacuum or air). Electrodes are essential parts of batteries that can consist of a variety of materials de ...

(sometimes called

anodes An anode is an electrode of a polarized electrical device through which conventional current enters the device. This contrasts with a cathode, an electrode of the device through which conventional current leaves the device. A common mnemonic is ...

Charging network

, although the public charging network has enough fast DC

charging Charging may refer to: * Charging (ice hockey), when a player takes more than three steps before checking an opposing player * Battery charger, a device used to put energy into a rechargeable battery * Charging station, a device used for rechargi ...

for the Istanbul Ankara motorway, it is sparse or non-existent in many other parts of the country, but would be technically easy to expand.

Economics

the special consumption tax^{( ''Turkish'')} – a sales tax on luxuries, such as private cars – is * Up to 85 kW motor - 60% * 85 kW to 120 kW - 150% * 120 kW and over 220%

References

{{Automotive industry by country Industry in Turkey