Turkey needs rules for breakthrough of mobility solutions

Turkey's fleet market may be edging towards maturity when it comes to operational leasing, but as far as mobility solutions are concerned, all observers agree that the country is still in a very pre-mature stage. However, traffic conditions in the big cities are such that mobility alternatives are welcome, urgent and perhaps even necessary.

Istanbul especially, with its millions of inhabitants and world-class traffic jams, is crying out for alternatives to gridlock. But as yet, the Turkish government has failed to seize the initiative for mobility solutions.

Isolated solutions
“Turkey's infrastructure is not keeping up with the growth of the automobile market, resulting in an increase in traffic. Eventually, this will create the need for mobility services”, says Savasan Kaplan Responsible for the Turkish Market at Fleet Logistics. “But these initiatives miss coordination and governmental support, which leaves fleet owners to look for isolated solutions”. A major contributing factor to the problem: “Cars are still considered a symbol of prestige in Turkey; employees will still opt for a car even if it would be less efficient than other mobility alternatives”. So without government support, and against the prevailing mentality of drivers themselves, mobility initiatives are few and far between. The most common form of alternative mobility for the corporate sector in Turkey is pool cars. “But these are increasingly becoming a financial and operational burden for companies, which are seeking alternative solutions that are more practical, affordable and on-demand”, says Berman Cavutoglu, CEO of YOYO, who sees his own company at the vanguard of a new wave of mobility solutions in Turkey: “More and more international companies are asking for car-sharing programmes. We are in fact the sole car-sharing service in Turkey that offers mobility solutions to companies”.

Not profitable
In the analysis of Ilkay Ersoy, General Manager at DRD Turkey, the future of mobility solutions in Turkey is caught between a rock and a hard place: “Corporate customers prefer leasing as a solution for their main business requirements, and use daily car rental for urgent needs and travel. This is why there is no mature request for corporate mobility in Turkey yet. Formulas based on car-sharing could provide some solutions”. Ekin Selami, CEOof Garanti Filo is not so sure: “Car-sharing hasn't proven itself as a profitable solution yet. Even in more mature countries, it's still in its infancy. As long as we're still building awareness for leasing in Turkey, I think we should not yet focus on other, short-term solutions. On the other hand, car-sharing is already being used in our big cities”. Other big-city solutions such as homeworking are also already being used, albeit in minor doses, says Turkay Oktay, Managing Director at LeasePlan Turkey. “Plus, there are a few individual car-sharing initiatives as well. But corporate mobility won't be on the agenda in the sort run”.

New concepts 
And yet, there definitely is a growing demand for such services, says Baran Aytac, Head of Fleet Sales and Used Vehicle Business at Mercedes-Benz Türk A.Ş. “Especially in Istanbul, where efficient mobility has become a huge challenge. We therefore believe that leasing companies will start including combined solutions – car plus public transport, for example – in their offerings in the near future. Car pooling and car sharing schemes have been in place among large-volume fleets for a while, with some success. But flexible working hours and homeworking are still relatively new concepts”. Given the existence of interest, and the broadening of tried and tested alternatives such as pool and shared cars, it is certainly interesting to see how the demand for mobility services will connect with the supply – and what shape that supply will take. But in order for mobility services to move beyond the pool car, the car-share and the short-term rental phase, Turkey will need, in the words of Müzeyyen Ilhan Eser of ALD Automotive Turkey, “the proper urban infrastructure and legal framework”.