Auto production, sales drops in January-April
TURKEY’S automotive production narrowed by 9% in the January-April period, while automobile production decreased by 20% year-over-year, according to official data released yesterday.
The country’s Automotive Manufacturers Association (ODD) said total automotive production stood at 409,903 units in the first four months, including 229,200 units of automobiles.
The automotive sales also decreased by 18% over the same period in the country to stand at 222,574 units, while car sales decreased by 21% to 162,398 units.
Commercial vehicle production dropped by 11% year-over-year in the January-April period, while sales were down by 9% over the same period.
On a quantity basis, the total automotive and automobile exports decreased by 11% and 21%, respectively, during the fourmonth period, versus the same period last year. Meanwhile, on a value basis, total automotive exports dropped by 0.2% to $10.3 billion in the four-month period and car exports amounted to $2.9 billion, down by 19%.
SALES TO REBOUND IN EUROPE
Crippled by chip shortages, auto sales were also recorded at record low levels in Europe last year. Industry figures previously showed that automobile sales will likely rebound by 7.9% in the European Union in 2022 but remain far below the 2019 level.
The European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA) said it February that “now forecasts that passenger car registrations in the EU will return to growth this year, rising by 7.9% to reach 10.5 million units.” That follows 9.7 million units sold in 2021.
The ACEA based its forecast on expectations semiconductor chip supplies will stabilize this year after shortages severely hurt the industry.
After a sharp drop in sales in 2020 with the coronavirus pandemic, the United States and the European Union auto markets were paralyzed last year by semiconductor shortages, especially those made in Asia.
Meanwhile, the United States and the European Union plan to announce yesterday a joint effort aimed at identifying semiconductor supply disruptions, officials said.
Top U.S. officials are visiting the French scientific hub of Saclay for a gathering of the Trade and Technology Council, created last year as China increasingly exerts its technology clout.
U.S. officials acknowledged that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has broadened the council’s scope, but said the Western bloc still has its eye on competition from China.
The two sides will announce an “early warning system” for semiconductors supply disruptions, hoping to avoid excessive competition between Western powers for the vital tech component.
“We hope to agree on high levels of subsidies – that they will not be more than what is necessary and proportionate and appropriate,” Margrethe Vestager, the European commissioner for competition, told reporters Sunday.
The aim is that “as both Washington and Brussels look to encourage semiconductor investment in our respective countries, we do so in a coordinated fashion and don’t simply encourage a subsidy race,” a U.S. official said separately, speaking on condition of anonymity.
The United States already put in place its own early warning system in 2021 that looked at supply chains in Southeast Asia and “has been very helpful in helping us get ahead of a couple of potential shutdowns earlier this year,” the U.S. official said.
The official added that the two sides are looking ahead to supply disruptions caused by pandemic lockdowns in China – the only major economy still hewing to a zeroCOVID-19 strategy.