Azerbaijan, Baku, Oct. 7 / Trend, R. Hafizoglu /
An old car utilization program will come into force in Turkey in 2014, Turkish Minister of Science, Industry and Technology Nihat Ergun said today, Sabah newspaper reported.
According to the minister, the program will contribute to the purchase of new cars.
Ergun also stressed that at this moment, vehicles older than 30 - 40 years are being used in Turkey. This leads to serious problems in the country. Today, every 130 Turkish citizen has a car and this exceeds the level of some European countries.
The minister said that the government will pay compensation higher than its market value to old car owners.
"The owners of vehicles manufactured before 1985 will get a compensation of 3,500 lira, while the owners of cars made in 1985 -1990 will get 5,000 lira," Ergun added.
He added that at present, the number of vehicles used in Turkey exceeds four million units.
Turkey ranks sixth in car production in Europe. The country produces or assembles Ford, FIAT, Renault, Toyota, Honda, Opel, Hyundai, Mercedes-Benz and MAN cars. Moreover, Turkey manufactures BMC, Temsa and Otokar buses.
The official exchange rate is 1,9964 TRY/USD on Oct. 7.