Electric car sales may reach 4,500 units this year

If the sales maintain their current pace in the coming months, electric vehicle sales may reach around 4,500 units, according to a business group.

In the first six months of 2022, the number of registered electric vehicles increased by 170 percent from a year ago to 2,413, according to a recent report by the Electric and Hybrid Vehicles Association (TEHAD).

In the whole of 2021, 2,846 electric vehicles were sold in Türkiye.

Due to supply and chip problems, overall vehicle sales in the country fell more than 10 percent year-on-year in January-June to 272,000 units, with hybrid vehicle sales contracting by 17.8 percent.

In the first six months of this year, consumers bought 9,731 hybrid vehicles. Fewer hybrid vehicles were available in the market which led to the decline in sales in this segment.

"The upward trend in electric car sales may continue in the remainder of the year," TEHAD said in the report.

Depending on the supply situation, the number of electric vehicles sold in Türkiye may reach 4,500 units at the end of this year, according to Berkan Bayram from TEHAD.

Top-selling brands

Renault, BMW and Mercedes-Benz dominated the electric car sales in the first half of this year.

BMW topped the list with a market share of 21 percent. The carmaker sold 504 electric vehicles in Türkiye in the first half.

Renault's Zoe was the top-selling model (492 units in the market, while Mercedes-Benz's market share was 18 percent. In the first half, the sales of Porsche's Taycan model declined from 294 units a year ago to 104 units as the Russia-Ukraine war impacted the production of this model.

In the hybrid vehicles segment, Toyota remained the market leader, but its share shrank as...