The Allied Group, an importer of Volkswagen brands, and the Shlomo Group, which owns, among others, the largest leasing company in Israel and activities for charging vehicles for electric vehicles within the Afcon subsidiary, are establishing a joint company that will focus on importing private and commercial vehicles from Chinese carmaker BYD.
The concession to import BYD’s buses has been in the hands of Shlomo Group since June 2017, when it acquired the then BYD importer, Clal Motors, from Clal Industries, which is controlled by Len Belvatnik. Since then, the company has mainly engaged in the import of electric buses and has even won a number of strategic supply tenders.
The industry estimates that the joint venture will be held by both groups in equal shares with an option to mutually acquire or expand a shareholding in the future. According to industry estimates, the activity will also include the marketing of BYD’s energy division products and participation in expected government tenders on the subject of energy storage through batteries. BYD’s products in this field compete worldwide with similar products from Tesla and Chinese CATL, which are already marketing them in Israel.
Apart from buses, BYD announced that next year it intends to gradually start marketing in Europe also commercial and private vehicles with electric propulsion. The company is expected to start marketing the premium TANG electric recreational vehicle in Europe during the summer with a range of about 500 km. In addition, the group intends to market electric commercial vehicles and electric trucks of various weights.
The Allied Group states that “The Allied Group and Shlomo confirm that they have agreed on a partnership with Shlomo Motors, an importer of BYD products and services to Israel. Of each of them and together will enable Shlomo Motors, a representative of BYD, to become a key player in leading the electricity revolution for Israel. ”