Turkey’s electric car sales surge eightfold in 2023, data shows

In 2023, 68,700 electric vehicles were purchased in Turkey, a sharp increase from the 7,540 cars sold in 2022, pushing the overall market share of electric vehicles to 10%.

Wednesday April 24 2024 11:10 pm

Duvar English

Sales of electric cars in Turkey soared eightfold in 2023, reaching 68,700 units, according to April 2024 data compiled by the International Energy Agency (IEA).

Of these sales, 66,000 were battery electric vehicles (BEVs), with the remaining 2,700 being plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), according to reporting by the economy news outlet Ekonomim.com.

The surge marks a significant increase from the 7,540 electric cars sold in 2022.

The report notes the surge in electric car sales in Turkey between 2022 and 2023.

Electric vehicles also saw a substantial rise in their overall market share, accounting for 10% of all vehicle sales in 2023, compared to just 1.1% in 2022. By the end of the year, Turkey’s electric vehicle stock totaled 82,000 units.

Since their sales debut in 2015, electric cars have steadily gained popularity in Turkey, reaching a total electric vehicle stock of 82,000 by the end of 2023.

The introduction of the TOGG T10X in late 2023, the nation’s first domestically manufactured electric car, further fueled this growth.

Turkey’s electric car project TOGG was a key campaign pledge for Erdoğan before the 2023 general elections. The sales began in mid-2023 through a raffle system, and direct retail sales are set to begin in 2024.

According to IEA, 20,000 units were sold by the end of 2023, making the TOGG T10X the fourth most popular car in Turkey in Nov. 2023. The indigenous car had a launch price of just over 50,000 dollars.

The surge in electric car sales aligns with Turkey’s record-breaking performance in the automotive industry overall.

More than 1.2 million vehicles were sold in Turkey in 2023, surpassing the previous record set in 2016, data from the Automotive Distributors and Mobility Association (ODMD) shows.

(English version by Wouter Massink)