In a written statement released on Wednesday, the Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (OSD) announced that the automobile market had begun to contract again in October of last year following the expiration of private consumption tax (ÖTV) cuts at the end of September. But automobile manufacturers managed to significantly boost demand in December after introducing attractive promotions, the report read, adding, however, that this situation also led people to purchase vehicles earlier and caused January automobile sales figures to drop. But the sector started to revive again in February, a trend that also continued in March. The market grew by an impressive 65 percent in March from one month earlier, the OSD underlined.
The market for automobiles contracted by 16.4 percent in the third month of the year compared to a year ago, which stemmed from the fact that tax incentives were introduced in March 2009, enabling the sector to see high levels of sales.
The OSD also said the heavy commercial vehicle market began to revive in March and grew by 17.2 percent in the first quarter of the year over the same period of last year. During this period, the light commercial vehicle market enjoyed growth of 27.1 percent, while the bus market continued to contract, dropping by a steep figure of 69 percent.
During the same period, automotive industry exports rose by 67.3 percent, while automobile exports registered an increase of 52.9 percent. The first quarter of the year also saw total automotive production up by 80.7 percent and automobile production increase by 63.4 percent compared to the same quarter of 2009. A total of 203,472 motor vehicles were exported in the January-March period, of which 122,310 were automobiles. Tractor exports, on the other hand, dropped by 4 percent to 2,830, while the production of tractors rose by 88 percent to 6,124 during the same period.
