Geely cars to go on sale in Turkey by August

Shanghai, May 28 (Gasgoo.com) Geely Automobile Holdings Ltd, the listed unit of China's largest privately owned car maker, will begin to sell vehicles in Turkey later this year, an industrial website reported recently.

Turkey's Anadolu Group will act as the local distributor for Geely. The vehicle, which is forecast to be available for sale in August, will have a price tag of YTL 16,000 ($12,800).

Besides Geely, Anadolu Group is also the sales agency for Isuzu, Kia, AvtoVAZ and South Korea's LS Industrial Co. Another Chinese homegrown automaker Chery already entered the Turkish market last year with Mermerler Group.

Turkey is gradually growing as an export base for automotive manufacturers and auto-related sub-industries for its strategic market location, low cost, tax breaks, abundance of skilled labor, customs union with the EU and high technology and know-how.

As of today, Turkey is the world's 17th-largest auto manufacturer. Its automotive production plants have a combined annual production capacity of 1.5 million vehicles. It is the European Union's leading manufacturer of passenger buses and third in trucks and commercial vehicles.