Automotive Main And Component Industries In Turkey And Clustering In The Marmara Region

The automotive industry in Turkey displays clustering on a geographic and sectoral basis in the Eastern Marmara Segment of the Marmara Region. Ten of the twelve automotive main industry enterprises located in the Marmara Region operate in the Eastern Marmara provinces. According to the General Census of Industry and Business Local Units 2002, 76.9% of 527 automotive component industry businesses, which employed 10+ workers, operated in the Eastern Marmara provinces. 86.5 % of employment in the main automotive industry of the Marmara Region is in the Eastern Marmara provinces. 65% of in the automotive component industry, in which about 200.000 people are employed in Turkey, are employed in the region. According to the aforementioned census data, while the automotive industry was ranked 1st in the Kocaeli and Sakarya provinces for employment in the manufacturing industry, it was ranked 2nd in the Bursa province. This data clearly puts forward a sector-oriented spatial concentration. When competitiveness analysis of the provinces in Turkey is conducted, four provinces out of the first ten situated in the aforementioned region can be shown among the reasons why the automotive sector exhibits clustering in the Marmara Region. 30% of Turkey’s population in 2012 resided in the Marmara Region, which has turned the region into a good market. It is a region where industry and commerce are the most intense, and where large-scale firms operate. The geographical location which the Marmara Region possesses enables the shortest transportation time to Europe and EU countries. The logistic infrastructure of the region, and R&D institutions and universities has technical infrastructures and programs that can meet the needs of the automotive industry.

Keywords

Turkey, automotive main industry, automotive component industry, clustering, Marmara Region