Turkey November 2016: Sales rally back up 45% to break YTD record

The Toyota Corolla edges past the Fiat Egea in November to rank #1 in Turkey.

* See the Top 45 All-brands and Top 250 All-models by clicking on the title *

The Turkish new light vehicle market is on fire: after a 29% surge in October, it gains a smashing 45% year-on-year in November to 122.309 units, propelling the year-to-date tally back into positive and record territory at +3% and 841.808 deliveries so far in 2016. Note these figures include light commercial vehicles, a lot of which manufactured locally. According to our local correspondent Kursat Bahadir, this is due to a spike of pulled-forward sales in anticipation of a government tax increase that was implemented on November 28. Premium vehicles are targeted by the tax, and therefore are the biggest gainers this month as buyers and taxi companies rushed to dealerships to benefit from pre-tax hike prices. The new tax is 71% (!) for <1.6L vehicles priced above 70.000 TL (19.000€), 130% for 1.6-2.0L vehicles and a mind-crushing 189% for >2.0L vehicles. In effect, this means to purchase a 2.3L Ford Mustang you must first buy another two for the government before being able to drive off… The other element sprucing November sales is the impending vehicle price rise in the wake of the devaluation of the Turkish Lira post-Trump election: the local currency has lost a further 15% vs. the US dollar and carmakers have warned this will be reflected in higher stickers from December onwards.

The Mercedes C-Class is up 5-fold on November 2016 to rank 8th best-seller overall. 

In this one-off context favouring premium brands, five of the Top 6 most popular brands (and 8 in the Top 10) are falling short of the market’s growth: Volkswagen (+39%), Fiat (+25%), Renault (+18%), Ford (+31%) and Opel (+44%). Only Toyota (+98%) and Mercedes (+123%) over-perform in the Top 10. Below, great performers include Audi (+76%), Honda (+83%), Nissan (+84%), Skoda (+109%), Seat (+110%) and Suzuki (up 81-fold!).

In the models ranking, the Toyota Corolla, up a fantastic 116%, edges past the Fiat Egea (+211%) for the month, but the latter remains YTD leader at 32.260 sales vs. 30.379 for the Ford Courier (+49% in November) and 28.347 for the Corolla. The Renault Mégane is reborn (+619%) thanks to the all-new Sedan variant accounting for 83% of the nameplate’s November sales, and the Mercedes C-Class signs a mammoth month with no less than 3.351 sales (+353%) and a record 8th place – advantageous tax regimen on taxis can only have helped. Further down, the Nissan Qashqai (+78%), Honda Civic (+143%), Skoda Octavia (+141%), Seat Leon (+172%), VW Jetta (+132%), Skoda Superb (+112%) and VW Tiguan (+142%) all jump ahead while the new generation boosts the Peugeot 3008 up 14-fold to #37 and 1.042 sales. The Toyota C-HR, produced locally, leaps up 153 spots on October to end its first full month of sales in Turkey at #38.

Previous month: Turkey October 2016: Fiat Egea confirms lead, Renault Mégane Sedan up

One year ago: Turkey November 2015: Fiat Fiorino and Opel Astra on top, Egea in Top 20

Full November 2016 Top 45 All-brands and Top 250 All-models below.