The Automotive Manufacturers’ Association (OSD) announced that total automotive production decreased by 5 percent in the first 7 months compared to the previous year to 823,636 units. There was a production loss of 12 percent in the commercial vehicle group, 18 percent in the heavy commercial vehicle group, and 11 percent in the light commercial vehicle group. According to OSD data, the share of imported cars in the total market rose to 76 percent in July and reached the peak level of the last 10 years.
The increase was driven by the fact that all domestic vehicles became expensive as they entered the 80 percent Special Consumer Tax bracket and Chinese brands introduced new models to the market one after another at competitive prices.
In the automotive sector, the steep decline in domestic automobile sales accelerated. According to OSD data, the share of automobile imports in the total market reached 76 percent in July. Thus, imported car sales reached the highest figure of the last 10 years.
OSD announced the production, export and market data for the January-July period of 2024. Accordingly, total automotive production in July decreased by 14 percent year-on-year to 116,569 units. In July, automobile production decreased by 7.7 percent year-on-year to 81,434 units. Last month, the total automotive market decreased by 17.2 percent compared to the same period of 2023 and reached 97,430 units, while exports increased by about 9 percent in dollar terms in the same period and exceeded USD 3 billion.
Domestic car sales down by 6 percent
In the first 7 months of 2024, the total market remained at a similar level with the same period of the previous year and amounted to 698 thousand 368 units. With the share of imported cars in the market reaching a record level of 75.9 percent in July, total automobile sales increased by 3 percent, imported automobile sales increased by 8 percent, while domestic automobile sales decreased by 6 percent in the January-July period of 2024 compared to the same period of the previous year. Light commercial vehicle sales decreased by 11 percent, while domestic light commercial vehicle sales decreased by 47 percent. Imported light commercial vehicle sales increased by 27 percent in this period.
