The Turkish government has released details of its action plan for the automotive industry covering the period between 2011 and 2014.
Published in a document released last week called The Turkish Automotive Strategy Report and Action Plan, the move is aimed at firmly establishing the country as a production centre and R&D base for the region.
It follows an analysis of developments in Turkey, the European Union (EU) and wider markets carried out by the country’s Ministry of Trade and Industry. Amongst its targets the strategy aims to build the domestic automotive sector and business abroad, improve physical infrastructure in Turkey and rehabilitate legal and administrative regulations, all with consequences for logistics providers operating in the country.
Turkey’s minister for trade and industry, Nihat Ergun, said that the measures would increase the profitability of domestic production, which would in turn largely meet the demands of the home market, while the foreign trade balance would develop in the favour of exports.
Domestic automotive sales were 510,000 in 2010 and are expected to rise to 1m by 2015 according to the Ministry. Ergun added: “We produce vehicles that are less costly than in Europe. Maybe we cannot compete with Far Eastern countries, but when price and quality is considered together, we are one of the most competitive countries in the area between Italy and China."
The announcement has been welcomed as a boost to finished vehicle carriers operating in the country.
“I believe this plan will obviously have positive effects if pursued and the targets are achieved,” said Ceren Buyruk, manager at Turkish carrier ANT Lojistik, which handles the import and export of vehicles, customs, and finished vehicle stocking services. She told Automotive Logistics News that it promises to balance the flows of vehicles to and from Turkey and that increased production in Turkey, including new models, would enlarge the scope of the finished vehicle logistics industry there.
“Moreover, this plan will help increase the total volume of the automotive market in Turkey, which will result in more transport within the country. Due to lack of volume, short sea shipping and transportation by rail was not considered as a solution in recent years for distribution in Turkey,” explained Eker. “But now they may come into the picture, if volumes reach the 1m level.
Based on information collected from the background studies, the strategy has three guiding principles for the development of the sector: the persuasion of current investors to produce more models, attracting world players for investments in Turkey, and developing a Turkish brand and models.
In addition, the strategy encourages the scrapping of vehicles at the end of lifecycle.
The five stated aims of the plan are: improving R&D infrastructure; developing companies' design, production, branding skills and capabilities; developing domestic and foreign automotive markets; improving legal and administrative harmonization; and developing physical infrastructure
