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Türkiye’s automotive industry has a major competitive advantage over Chinese rivals because vehicles produced in the country can enter the European Union without the import tariffs imposed on Chinese vehicles, according to Bartosz Mielecki, managing director of the Polish Automotive Group (PGM).
Speaking at a mobility conference in Katowice on Thursday as part of the "Poland Business Forward" program, Mielecki pointed to Türkiye’s Customs Union with the EU as a key advantage.
"Türkiye has a major competitive advantage because vehicles produced there can enter the EU without the import tariff that Chinese vehicles have to pay," Mielecki explained.
Mielecki also highlighted Togg’s development, noting that the company was established in 2018 and began mass production in 2022. He pointed to Togg’s position as the market leader in Türkiye.
Poland and Türkiye started developing their automotive industries at around the same time in the 1970s, Mielecki noted. While Türkiye went on to build a full automotive industry around its own brand, Poland focused on becoming one of Europe’s largest automotive component producers.
Togg entered the European market through Germany in 2025, while Poland’s domestic electric vehicle project Izera shifted to a joint venture model at the end of 2024 after about a decade of work. Mielecki also said plans were in place to establish a research center and factory for Izera.
More than 463,000 new vehicles were sold in Poland during the first eight months of the year, Mielecki said. Sales were nearly 10% higher than a year earlier and grew faster than the EU average. He also noted that Chinese brands nearly doubled their share of the Polish automotive market, rising from 6% to about 13% in one year.
Poland’s automotive industry produced around €52 billion ($59.3 billion) worth of goods in 2025, with more than half of that output consisting of parts and components. More than 75% of production was exported, making Poland one of Europe’s largest automotive parts exporters, Mielecki indicated.
European automotive suppliers are also facing rising energy costs, higher wages, pricing pressure from vehicle manufacturers and expensive technological changes, he added.
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