By Muhammed Ali Gurtas

ANKARA 

Nearly 111,000 vehicles rolled off Turkish auto industry production lines this January, the Automotive Manufacturers Association (OSD) reported on Saturday.

Including automobiles, commercial vehicles, and tractors, Turkey's auto production last month dropped 13.9 percent on an annual basis.

The group said automobile production fell 16 percent on a yearly basis to total 71,397 passenger cars in January.

Last month, the country's overall auto sales market narrowed 60 percent year-on-year to 14,775 vehicles.

In January, nearly 11,000 passenger cars were sold in Turkey, 62 percent of them imported.

The figures also showed auto industry's exports fell 1 percent to 93,760 vehicles in the same period.

The country's automotive exports totaled $2.33 billion in January, rising 2 percent compared to a year ago.

Top international automakers -- including Ford, Honda, Hyundai, Mercedes, Renault, and Toyota -- have factories in Turkey, one of the world’s top auto sale markets.

In 2018, a total of 641,541 vehicles were sold in Turkey, with passenger cars taking a 75.8 percent share. 

Last year, Turkey produced nearly 1.6 million vehicles, earning $32.2 billion from exports of some 1.3 million vehicles.