Dogus Otomotiv is predicting a 17% rise in the Turkish car market this year – despite swingeing auto purchase duties of 50%.
The importer and distributor of mainly Volkswagen brands says the Turkish market will rise to 675,000 vehicles in 2010.
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“There is a pent-up demand coming from the last couple of years,” Dogus Otomotiv head of investor relations in Istanbul Verda Beste told just-auto.
“It is mainly small cars for big cities – this is the new trend with fuel consumption. There is a huge tax in Turkey – car tax is more than 50% and fuel is also 50% – this is one of the biggest things with Turkish car ownership.”
At just 142 cars per 1,000 inhabitants the Turkish market is primed for development and with purchases operating in four to five-year waves, Dogus is predicting it will be able to ride the present surge in demand.
This is also driven by the fact six million of those vehicles are more than eight years old.
To that end Dogus says it will sell between 72,000-73,000 units – including heavy commercial vehicles – this year although the distributor is forecasting a slight dip in its market share from the current 12.1% to between 11% and 12%.
Beste noted the small decrease would be affected by seasonal factors such as a third quarter contraction due to Ramadan.
The Turkish government is resisting the introduction of a scrappage scheme for some of its 16m vehicles, although Beste said Dogus would welcome any such initiative, currently being lobbied for by Turkish automotive industry representatives.
