Challenges for the Turkish car industry on its way to integration with the European Union

Abstract

The Turkish automotive industry had been founded as a CKD assembly industry at the beginning of the 1960s and only gradually did it turn into a manufacturing industry. The industry has experienced both import-substitution and export-oriented policy periods. In both periods, priority in the industrialization strategy was given to the development of a motorway network and this helped to establish the infrastructure. The Turkish automotive sector is adding value to the economy with 30,000 people working in car production and 150,000 in the spare parts industry, moreover it also has also had a spillover effect on many other Turkish industries.