Israeli vehicles market in October 2023 falls 28.7% reporting 11,742 new registrations. YTD figures at 251,867 are up 7.3% from the previous year. BYD jumps 33 spots into 4th position in the rankings.
Market Trend and Outlook
After expanding 3.1% in quarter-on-quarter annualised terms in Q2, the Israeli economy saw robust growth in Q3. However, the conflict with Hamas is weighing on momentum in Q4. The government has called up over 300,000 reservists, sparking labor shortages and depressing private spending. In addition, the closure of schools and universities is hitting the education sector, while security concerns are set to weigh heavily on tourism and investment. Moreover, movement restrictions will be reducing the supply of Palestinian laborers, weighing on construction output.
This conflict has also effected the Israeli Vehicle Market heavily, with sales in October 2023 collapsing 28.7% and reaching 11,742 monthly new registrations. YTD figures at 251,867 are still up 7.3% from the previous year.
Looking at cumulative data up to October 2023 brand-wise, the leader remains Hyundai at 40,043 sales (-3.3%), in front of Kia at 31,018 sales (-7.5%) and Toyota at 28,066 registrations (-14.0%).
BYD jumps 54 spots into 4th with 14,321 sales, followed by Skoda with 13,352 new registrations (+11.7%), Mazda at 13,126 (-24.1%) and Chery -up 52 spots- in 7th with 10,679 units sold.
Mitsubishi falls 2 spots into 8th with 9,744 sales (-10.8%), followed by Suzuki at 8,146 sales (+19.4%) and Peugeot with 6,666 registrations (+21.7%).
Medium-Term Market Trend
The Israeli vehicles market in the past decade has had two main trends. From 2013 to 2016 the market grew year-by-year starting at 208,614 in 2013 and ending at an all-time high of 281,736 light vehicle sales. In the following year the market reversed, falling for 4 years in a row and reaching 246,311 sales by the end of 2019.
With the arrival of the pandemic in 2020 the light vehicle market collapsed even further, reaching 211,322 new car registrations by the end of the year (-14.2%).
Luckily the market boomed in the following year, with 2021 reaching a new all-time high at 284,432 sales , a +34.6% year-on-year variation. The following year the market underperformed, with sales in 2022 reaching 268,141 (-7.3%). A combination of factors are behind the current industry struggle: the disruption in the global supply chain caused by a lack of raw materials, in particular for the production of microchips and Governments push towards Evs, an expensive alternative for low income consumers.
Tables with sales figures
In the tables below we report sales for 10 Brands and top 10 Manufacturers Groups.
