Europe’s main carmakers’ lobby has come out in support of carve-outs for vehicle plants in Türkiye under the European Union’s planned "Made in Europe" rules, adding industry weight to Ankara’s campaign not to be left outside the new regime, Hürriyet reported on Monday.
The European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA), which represents the big European vehicle makers, told the newspaper it backs the EU’s Industrial Accelerator Act (IAA) but does not want the law to penalise manufacturers that invested in countries such as Türkiye and Morocco in good faith under the current rules.
Carmakers ask for targeted exemptions
The IAA is designed to give priority to production inside Europe, mainly in the automotive and green-technology sectors, as the EU tries to respond to competition from China. As this site reported last week, a non-binding Franco-German understanding on which countries should count as "European" covers the 27 EU members plus EFTA states and the United Kingdom, but leaves Türkiye out, even though the country has been in a customs union with the EU since 1996.
Maria Linkova-Nijs, ACEA’s executive director for policy and strategy, said the association supports targeted exemptions for existing operations in countries like Türkiye and Morocco, particularly in heavy commercial vehicles. According to Hürriyet, she warned that excluding these plants could weaken European competitiveness and create uncertainty for investors.
The ACEA figures cited by the newspaper show how much is at stake in that segment alone: its members produced about 29,000 trucks and 8,500 buses in Türkiye in 2025.
Turkish industry: "a decision with no economic basis"
Cengiz Eroldu, chairman of Türkiye’s Automotive Manufacturers Association (OSD), described the Franco-German deal as a decision with no economic rationale and said leaving Türkiye out posed a major risk to competitiveness, since Türkiye and the EU are each other’s main suppliers and markets. He said OSD met Trade Minister Ömer Bolat on 19 October and that the issue is being coordinated as a priority by the Trade Ministry.
Bolat has repeatedly said Türkiye should be treated as an equal partner because of the customs union. The government has also pressed for an upgrade of that arrangement, a theme raised at the EU-Türkiye business summit in Brussels.
What happens next
The European Parliament is due to vote on the act in December, and three-way "trilogue" negotiations between the EU Council, Commission and Parliament are expected to start early next year, Hürriyet said. That leaves several months in which Ankara and industry groups will lobby for a broader definition.
For residents and investors, the outcome matters because the EU is Türkiye’s main trading partner and the automotive industry is central to that trade. Exports overall have been a bright spot this year, with September shipments hitting a record $26 billion. Readers following the wider economy can also see our cost of living in Türkiye 2026 guide.
Sources
Photo: Lenny Kuhne / Unsplash License, via Unsplash
