Motorcycle sales in Turkey expected to rise this year

By Bahattin Gonultas

ANKARA (AA) - Motorcycle sales in Turkey are expected to rise by 10 percent this year due to a decrease in compulsory insurance tariff rates, according to head of Motorcycle Industry Association on Thursday.

The motorcycle market in Turkey had gone down by 13 percent in 2016; 143,678 new motorcycles were registered last year.

"With the fall of traffic insurance tariff, we expect sales to go up by more than 10 percent this year, which would be around 155,000," association President Bulent Kilicer told Anadolu Agency.

He said the total number of registered motorcycles in Turkey by 2016 stood at 3,003,733.

One out of 27 people in Turkey drives a motorcycle; in Europe, it is one out of six persons.

"Our country is behind many European countries in this aspect," he said.

Kilicer said the motorcycle market's financial turnover in 2016 was almost 1.3 billion Turkish liras ($366.4 million).

He said the decrease in compulsory traffic insurance tariff, tax cuts and improvement of roads made important contributions to the motorcycle market.