* March car production falls 43 percent year-on-year
* Total March automotive production falls 53 percent
* First quarter production more than halves
ISTANBUL, April 8 (Reuters) - Turkish car production dropped 43 percent year-on-year in March to 37,125 units, the Automotive Industry Association (OSD) said on Wednesday, as the global economic crisis saps domestic and export demand.
The Turkish government introduced tax cuts last month to boost the automotive sector, which has been a central element in the country's booming exports in recent years.
In the first quarter as a whole, passenger car output fell 51 percent to 91,155 vehicles, the OSD said on its website.
Total automotive sector production fell 53 percent to 58,892 units in March, making a decline of 59 percent to 142,567 in the first quarter.
However, the cut in the special consumption tax on vehicle sales is expected to boost demand in the coming months.
Among companies in the sector, shares in Tofas, a venture between Italy's Fiat and Turkey's Koc Holding, were up 4.6 percent at 1.82 lira on Wednesday, outperforming a generally higher market.
Ford Otosan, a joint venture of local conglomerate Koc Holding and Ford Motor Co., was unchanged at 4.32 lira. (Editing by Will Waterman)