Turkey is witnessing an unprecedented boom in electric car sales, after recording an increase of 257.3% in the first five months of this year compared to the same period in 2023, according to a report published by the local newspaper Daily Sabah.
According to recent data issued by the Automotive and Mobility Distributors Association (ODMD), more than 27,600 electric cars were sold during the period from January to May, out of a total of 471,743 new vehicles sold during the aforementioned period from all categories. This raises the market share of electric cars to more than 7%.
Increase total vehicle sales
Total sales of cars and light commercial vehicles in Turkey showed a growth of 6%, from the beginning of the year until the end of May.
Car sales reached 375,97 units, recording an increase of 10.25%, while sales of light commercial vehicles decreased by 7.9% to 96,646 units.
In the automobile sector, gasoline-powered vehicles topped the list with 247,828 units sold, followed by hybrid cars with 54,065 units.
Sales of diesel cars amounted to 39,351 units, and cars powered by liquefied gas reached 2,783 units. The data also revealed that when including E-REV vehicles, electric vehicle sales reached 31,70 units for the first five months.
Hybrid car sales also witnessed significant growth, rising by 50.3% year-on-year. By the end of May, hybrid cars accounted for 14.4% of total sales, up from 10.6% the same period last year.
On the other hand, sales of diesel cars decreased by 33.1%, and sales of liquefied gas cars decreased by 37%.
Sales of gasoline-powered cars saw an increase of 7.4%, but their market share decreased to 66.1% from 67.8% compared to the first five months of the previous year. The share of diesel cars decreased from 17.3% to 10.5%, and liquefied gas cars from 1.3% to 0.7%.
TOG boosts electric vehicle market
Electric car sales in Turkey were boosted by the introduction of the first local electric car, “Tog,” which sold nearly 20,000 units last year, according to Daily Sabah.
This success helped Turkey exceed the 65,000 mark in electric car sales in 2023, ranking sixth in the European sales rankings.
The popularity of electric cars in Türkiye is due to climate goals and the push towards sustainable transportation. However, challenges such as the availability of lithium for electric vehicle batteries, affordability, and the speed of building charging infrastructure remain vital issues for the sector, the local newspaper reported.
