Turkey kept its position as Europe’s sixth-largest passenger car market in the first nine months of 2026

Turkey maintained its position as Europe’s sixth-largest passenger car market in the first nine months of 2026, even as total vehicle sales fell 15.45 percent year-over-year, industry data showed.

Passenger car registrations in Turkey reached 627,977 units through September, placing the country behind Germany, the United Kingdom, Italy, France, and Spain, according to compiled data from the Automotive Distributors and Mobility Association (ODMD) and the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA).

Overall car registrations rose to 10.56 million in the 9-months period

Overall vehicle registrations across the European Union, European Free Trade Association (EFTA) countries, and the U.K. rose 6.3 percent to 10.56 million units during the nine-month period, according to figures released Oct. 22 by ACEA. While all five European markets ranking above Turkey registered volume growth, Türkiye recorded the steepest percentage decline among the region’s 10 largest markets.(By the way I have a story here about Turkey’s domestic electric car, TOGG)

Turkey also retained its sixth-place rank in battery-electric vehicle (BEV) sales despite a 9.1 percent drop in the segment to 120,329 units. Germany led European BEV registrations, followed by the U.K., France, Belgium, and Denmark,the data underlined.

Turkey stood out as the only market among the top 10 European BEV destinations to report a sales contraction in the segment. In contrast, battery-electric registrations surged 58.1 percent in Germany, 79.1 percent in France, and 30.2 percent in the U.K, the data said.

Turkey’s electric vehicle market reached to 19.2%

Despite lower absolute volumes, fully electric vehicles expanded their market share within Turkey’s contracting auto market to 19.2 percent, up from 17.8 percent during the same period last year, the data revealed.

Across the EU, battery-electric vehicles expanded their market share to 22.7 percent from 16.1 percent a year earlier. Hybrid-electric vehicles remained the largest overall powertrain segment in the bloc with a 36.3 percent market share, while plug-in hybrids accounted for 10.1 percent. The combined market share of traditional gasoline and diesel vehicles fell to 28.2 percent, down from 36.9 percent in the prior-year period, the data noted.

Image: Gemini