Research Information System
European Trade Study Group Conference, Munich, Germany, 12 - 14 September 2014, pp.1-20
The Turkish automotive industry exhibited a notable change in its trade performance as of
2001. The share of automobiles and parts exports in total Turkish exports, and the share of
EU in Turkish exports of automobiles and parts both rose. This change is attributable to
production fragmentation in the global automotive network, as well as the implementation of
the provisions of EU-Turkey Customs Union Agreement. The membership of 8 Central and
Eastern European Countries (EU-8) in 2004 and the further inclusion of Bulgaria, Romania,
and Croatia among member states is a challenge to Turkey’s competitiveness in the
automotive network in the EU-15 market. China is another source of competition in the
same area who wants to be holding an important share in the European market.
This paper examines Turkey’s competitiveness in the automotive network in the EU-15
market. We measure Revealed Comparative Advantage (RCA) by indices developed by
Vollrath (1991). We make the necessary adjustments to the indices so that they reveal
competitiveness in a single sector. The indices are constructed for the case of different
country’s firms competing in the same export market.
We calculate RCA indices for the automotive network by making use of trade data compiled
according to the Harmonized System (HS) at the 6-digit level. The indices account for both
exports and imports. The study encompasses all the 6-digit automotive products and parts
that are listed under the 4-digit HS codes 87.01-87.08. The period of analysis covers the
years from 2001 to 2013. We calculate the RCA indices for Turkey, CEECs and China and
normalize them for international comparison.