ANKARA: Turkish auto exports surged by 8 percent year-on-year in August and totaled $1.36 billion, the best August performance on record since the global financial crisis of 2008.
Even though the industry suffered a 10 percent decline in export volume in the first eight months of the year, it posted an 8 percent increase in August, according to Orhan Sabuncu, the chairman of the Uludağ Automotive Industry Exporters’ Union (OİB).
The auto industry sustained $2.1 billion in losses due to unfavorable foreign exchange rates, and the total export volume slumped to $13.5 billion in the January-August period, Sabuncu said. However, the sector increased exports to six of its eight largest trade partners in August, he added.
Turkish companies make payment for intermediate goods mostly in US dollars and get paid in euros. The US dollar has long been gaining value against both emerging market currencies and the euro due to the recovering US economy.
While auto exports to Germany contracted 12 percent year-on-year to stand at $231 million in August, UK-bound exports achieved a 27 percent surge to reach $183 million, exports to France increased by 26 percent to $148 million, to the US by 102 percent to $66 million and to Spain by 97 percent to $69 million in the same period.
