— 2026-05-28
News from ECG
Türkiye – known as the ‘Stepping Stone to Europe’ and the ‘Bridge to Asia’-the country is indeed a fascinating amalgamation of Europe and Asia. With a population of over 86 million, and growing. With GDP per Capita on of USD 19K, en par with growth markets in the ‘Emerging Europe’ and ‘Emerging Asia’ category. And the all important inflation rates dropping from the peak witnessed in 2022, the economic indicators from the IMF’s latest data set all point towards a solid growth region for new car sales.
In 2025, a total of 1.08 million new cars were sold in the country as per data from the Turkish Automotive Manufacturers Association (OSD), this was a significant jump of 10.6% from 2024 volumes. But in Q1 2026, sales of new cars in Türkiye have hit just 210,688 units, a decline of 5.8% year on year. What could possibly be going on?
Well, its all about taxes. “At the moment automotive taxes are really high, and in the luxury segment its about 220%,” explains an avid car buyer in Türkiye.
“Those cars are like four times or five times more than the price in the EU. It's unbelievable.”
Indeed, taxes are a substantial hinderance to the growth of the economy and car sales are facing a difficult challenge where a number of combined taxes both on new cars and demanded on an annual basis just to keep a car are severely affecting the potential growth of the car market in Türkiye.
“Despite similar population sizes, 2025 passenger car sales in Germany were twice as high as in Türkiye,” says Steven van Arsdale, PwC Autofacts. “A BEV with a net price of Euro 40,000 would cost 76% more in Türkiye.”
“While the Turkish automotive market is growing, the impact of the increased ÖTV is already becoming evident,” van Arsdale adds.
And its not just the ÖTV, which was updated with new rates effective from August 2025, there is also the annual ‘Motor vehicle tax’ collected in two instalments in January and July, which are due every year based on the engine size of the vehicle you own—for which rates went up from 1.1.2026.
Türkish consumers face a total of 6 different charges due to simply own and run a new car. With increases across different taxes, the economic indicators showing green signals for growth in the car market, are indeed being shrouded by the burden of taxes in the country.
“If we would have similar taxation, like Germany or Spain, the current sales in the Turkish market would be, I think, around 3 million per year, and it would be the leading country in the region,” the car buyer in Türkiye states. Indeed van Arsdale agrees, “If Turkey would match Germany’s car sale per capita, annual sales volumes would reach 3 million units.”
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