Turkey May 2015: Doblo pokes Linea for #1 in strike-disrupted market

The Fiat Doblo misses out on the #1 spot for just 28 sales.

* See the Top 25 best-selling models and Top 42 All-brands by clicking on the title *

May 2015 is a month to forget for the Turkish car industry: workers strikes at factories for most major manufacturers present in the country (Renault, Fiat and Ford) have questioned Turkey’s future as a European car production hub. See more here. Despite this, the Turkish new car market is up a whopping 40% year-on-year to 81.542 registrations, bringing the year-to-date total to 346.392 units, up 53% on 2014. In the models ranking, the most affected by the strikes are logically the Bursa-produced Renault Clio – down from #2 in April to #28 in May – and Fluence – down from #3 to #15 – triggering a sales report onto the Renault Symbol, shooting up from #15 last month to #3 in May. The Fiat Linea keeps the lead with 3.362 sales and 4.1% share, cementing its 2015 year-to-date pole position, however this month it is only 28 units above the Fiat Doblo at 3.334 and now #2 year-to-date as well at 12.882 deliveries, up a fantastic 149% on 2014.

The Renault Symbol benefits from the strike affecting Clio and Fluence production.

Further down, the VW Passat is back up to a formidable 5th place that it also holds year-to-date, the VW Jetta is up to #7, the Peugeot 301 up 6 spots to #16, and the BMW 3 Series (#20), Honda Civic (#21), VW Caddy (#24) and Seat Leon (#25) make their reappearance inside the Turkish Top 25. Brand-wise, Volkswagen remains the most popular thanks to sales up 40% year-on-year at 15.8% share above Ford (+89%), Fiat (+32%) and Renault, the most impacted by strikes at -2%. Hyundai (+34%), Toyota (+60%) and Opel (+18%) follow, with Peugeot (+90%), Mini (+96%), Nissan (+100%), Seat (+115%), Mazda (+117%) and Jeep (+483%) gaining the most ground in the Top 30.

Previous month: Turkey April 2015: Local fares Fiat Linea and Renault Clio dominate

One year ago: Turkey May 2014: Fiat Linea reclaims throne

Full May 2015 Top 25 models and Top 42 All-brands below.