Figures from Turkey’s Automotive Distributors Association (ODD) have revealed that in the first quarter of 2019 the sale of passenger cars and commercial vehicles has dropped 44.2 percent year-on-year, the Diken news website reported on Tuesday.
A total of 88,469 vehicles were sold over the first three months of the year, a significant decline over last year’s 158,430 in the same period.
Passenger car sales declined from 122,310 to 68,812, a 43.7 percent decrease.
The number of commercial vehicles dropped 45.6 percent from 36,120 to 19,657 in the same period.
The report was the latest addition to a series of recent statistics that point to continuing turbulence in the country’s automotive market.
Annual sales for 2018 had represented a 35 percent contraction compared to the previous year.
The figures also showed a decline in the number of cars manufactured, one of Turkey’s leading industries.