The domestic automobile market contracted last year in Turkey, but this slowdown did not stop the country's strong sales performance compared to European nations. Turkey overtook 23 countries and ranked eighth in Europe in terms of automobile sales in the continent, according to the "2018 European Automotive Market Evaluation" report prepared by the Automotive Distributors Association (ODD) and based on the data of the European Automobile Manufacturers Association (ACEA). With a total of 486,321 automobiles sold, Turkey outperformed the Netherlands, Sweden, and Austria in the list of Europe's most automobile sales last year. According to the December data, Turkey ranked sixth, selling 60,843 automobiles, following Germany, France, the U.K., Italy and Spain.
Among the 28 European Union countries and European Free Trade Association Countries (EFTA), Germany - which harbors brands including Mercedes, Audi, BMW and Volkswagen - came first with the highest numbers of automobiles sold across Europe. The country sold more than 3.4 million automobiles in the continent last year. Motor vehicles and their components made 18.4 percent of the Germany's total exports in 2017, being the most significant export item.
Germany was followed by the U.K. - the manufacturer of global brands like Rolls Royce, Bentley, Aston Martin and Land Rover - recording 2.3 million in automobile sales. France ranked third and sold more than 2.1 million automobiles with its brands Renault, Citroen, and Peugeot. Italy and Spain followed France with 1.9 million units and 1.3 million units in automobile sales, respectively. Greek Cypriot administration came last with a total of 12,956 automobile sales in the European market last year. In addition to Greek Cyprus, Latvia, Iceland, Estonia, and Lithuania were the other countries at the bottom of the list. Moreover, European automobile market saw a 0.04 percent contraction in 2018 compared to the previous year and stood at 15.6 million. In 2017, a total of 15.6 million automobiles sold across the continent. The highest increase in the automobile sales in Europe was observed in Lithuania with 25.4 percent rise and Romania with 23.1 percent surge. Iceland and Norway recorded the highest decrease with 15.6 percent and 6.8 percent fall, respectively.
Automobile sales in Turkey dropped by 32.71 percent and Germany - which recorded the highest sales - saw a 0.2 percent decline.
