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Devrim (1961) was the first Turkish designed automobile.

Anadol A1 (1966-1975) makes its international debut at the London Motor Show in Earls Court, 1968.

Anadol STC-16 (1973-1975) was Turkey's first sports car.

Etox is a new Turkish sports car brand, based in Ankara.

Turkish automotive companies like TEMSA, Otokar and BMC are among the world's largest van, bus and truck manufacturers.

The automotive industry in Turkey plays an important role in the manufacturing sector of the Turkish economy. The companies operating in the Turkish automotive sector are mainly located in the Marmara Region. In 2008 Turkey produced 1,147,110 motor vehicles, ranking as the 6th largest producer in Europe and the 15th largest producer in the world.^[1]

[edit] History

In 1959 the Otosan factory was established in Istanbul to produce the models of the Ford Motor Company under licence in Turkey.

In 1961 the Devrim sedan was manufactured at the Tülomsaş factory in Eskişehir. It was the first indigenously designed and produced Turkish automobile.

In 1964 the Austin and Morris vehicles of the British Motor Corporation began to be produced under licence 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 Anadol 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 for producing Fiat models under licence.

In 1969 the Oyak-Renault factory was established in Bursa for producing Renault models.

Other global automotive manufacturers such as Toyota, Honda, Opel, Hyundai, Mercedes-Benz and MAN AG 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 and TEMSA.

By 2004, Turkey was exporting 518,000 vehicles a year, mostly to the European Union member states.^[2]

In 2006, the European Investment Bank 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 Bursa with an additional, initial, annual capacity of 135.000 cars, due to roll off the assembly line in late 2007.^[3]

Like in many countries, the car manufacturing industry has been significantly affected by the global financial crisis. 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.^[4]

[edit] Production

World map of motor vehicle production in 2007.

Turkey produced 1,024,987 motor vehicles in 2006,^[5] ranking as the 7th largest automotive producer in Europe; behind Germany (5,819,614), France (3,174,260), Spain (2,770,435), the United Kingdom (1,648,388), Russia (1,508,358) and Italy (1,211,594), respectively.^[6]

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.^[1]^[7]

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.^[8] 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.^[9]^[10]