Turkey’s automotive exports stood at $505 million in April, representing a 77 percent drop over last year, the Diken news website reported on Monday.
The decline was sharper than the overall decrease in exports, which was at 41.6 percent.
The automotive industry used to be the leading sector in exports. After the drop in April, it ranked fourth.
The decline was primarily attributed to the radical slowdown in demand in Turkey’s main export market, Europe, which went into heavy lockdown due to the COVID-19 outbreak.
Auto sales decreased 97 percent in Spain and 89 percent in France, the two European countries that have announced numbers.
In Turkey almost all the factories halted production in the first three weeks of April. While some manufacturers resumed production in the last week of April, two of the five largest carmakers, Toyota and Tofaş will not reopen until May 11.