The majority of Turkey’s automotive industry has ceased operations due to the global Covid-19 pandemic. Only Tofas continues production at 50% capacity, Kallanish notes.

Turkey supplies Europe with 15% of its commercial vehicle demand. Automotive is Turkey’s largest exporting industry.

Anadolu Isuzu will suspend production between 30 March and 8 April. It produces buses, midi-buses and pickup models with an annual production capacity of 19,000 units in one shift at its Sekerpınar plant. Oyak Renault, meanwhile, is gradually stopping production indefinitely. The company’s Bursa plant produces up to 920,000 engines and 378,000 cars annually.

Honda’s facility in Gebze Sekerpınar has stopped production between 23 March and 6 April. It is working with an annual production capacity of 50,000 units since 2008. The firm previously announced it will end production at its plant in Turkey in 2020 in line with its global marketing strategy. Hyundai Assan says production will be halted from 27 March-13 April. The facility has an annual production capacity of 215,000 vehicles.

Mercedes-Benz Turk is one of Turkey's largest foreign investments. It decided to halt production at Hosdere bus factory for two weeks as of 23 March and at Aksaray truck factory as of 28 March. It has now rescheduled the production restart at Hosdere to 20 April. Ford Otosan was the first automotive company to announce suspended production. Production will be halted at the Gölcük factory between 30 March and 5 April.

Karsan, which produces up to 18,200 commercial vehicles annually in a single shift, will suspend production from 1-10 April. Toyota, with a production capacity of 150,000 vehicles/year, will suspend output from 21 March-5 April.

Commercial vehicle manufacturer MAN, owned by Volkswagen, will suspend production from 23 March-13 April. MAN produces up to 2,000 units/year in Turkey, exporting 85% of bus production to 41 countries. Commercial vehicle manufacturer Temsa stopped production indefinitely on 21 March. It has a 11,500 vehicles/year capacity in a single shift, including 4,000 buses and midi-buses and 7,500 light trucks.