Competitive Power and Competitiveness: Comparison of Italy and Turkey in Machinery and Automotive Sectors

Abstract

The automotive and the automotive supply industry are major contributors to a country's economy. The automotive and automotive supply industry in Turkey are heaped up especially in Marmara Region as well as in other regions and made considerable progress during past years. Bursa, Istanbul, Izmir, Kocaeli, Konya, Ankara, Adana and Manisa are cities, with high industiral density, which play an important role to keep the industry alive. The automotive and automotive supply industry, which started to operate in the mid-1950s, continued to gain momentum in the 1960s. In 1966, the mass automobile production in Turkey started with Anadol brand. In the 1970s, major automobile manufacturers also had a say in serial production with the establishment of new assembly lines. The automotive industry, with infrastructure and superstructure investments, has always been at the top of the developed and developing country's economies. After 1996, with the entry of customs union agreement, Turkey’s distribution networks have shifted to the international dimension and have undergone a structural transformation. For the automotive and automotive supply industry, the situation has become a door to foreign competition in order to adapt to ever-changing global economic conditions. In this study, first, competitive power indexes of the machinery and vehicle sectors of Italy and Turkey were examined comparatively. Second, the export market components of automotive and automotive supply industries of Italy and Turkey have been examined comparatively. In the quantitative methodology of the study, hypothesis was tested with nonparametric statistical analyzes by sampling of the competitiveness parameters and export figures of Italy and Turkey on yearly basis. As a result, Italy and Turkey's competitiveness in the machinery and automotive sectors and their positions in the global competition have been determined.