Now it’s official: car importers have delivered 214,544 new cars in the past year, up from 253,938 in 2019, down 15.5%. This emerges from data from the Association of Car Importers published today (Monday). To this number should be added about 5,500 cars sold in Israel in 2020 and imported in parallel imports, a slight decrease compared to 5,700 imported in this channel last year.
Toyota Corolla – sales hit in Israel 2020
(Photo: Nir Ben Zaken)
In December, which closed the year, a meager number of about 4,500 new cars were delivered, after a slowdown as a result of the third closure, along with a desire by many buyers to delay delivery to get a vehicle that hit the road in 2021. The industry estimates that by the end of January, about 40,000 new cars will be delivered, similar to their number in January 2019 (41,000 deliveries), but lower than the record set in January 2017, when 45,000 new cars went on Israeli roads in one month.
As revealed on Ynet, Hyundai maintained its position at the top of the dedication table (33,565), ahead of Toyota (28,756), Kia (25,483), Skoda (17,908) and Mitsubishi (12,895). Of the five best-selling brands, Skoda was the only one whose dedication was not harmed in the past year, in contrast to Toyota and Kia which fell by 20%, Hyundai which lost 17% of the dedication and Mitsubishi 10%.
Click on the “2019” tag to view last year’s data of the top ten:
As reported by Ynet, the Toyota Corolla finished 2020 with the best-selling title, with 12,290 dedications through importer Union Motors, and another 1,700 units in parallel imports. Hyundai Ionic second (9,882), followed by Kia Picanto (8,036), Hyundai i20 (with 6,764), Kia Niro (5,752), Toyota Rav 4 (5,200), Skoda Kodiak (4,956), Kia Sportage (4,924), Hyundai Tucson (4,807 ) And a Mitsubishi Outlander (4,750).
In total, six of the ten best-selling models last year are recreational vehicles, a testament to the dominance of the category in the market. Three of the top ten best-selling models are hybrids, including the leading Corolla, which is also offered in the petrol version, but it has taken up less than 10% of the model’s dedication volume.
The big drop in dedication was recorded by Honda, until recently one of the best-selling brands in the country, after selling only 2,542 cars this year, a crash of 51%. A limited and uncompetitive model line in price, due to the manufacturer’s weakness in the European market and its refusal to allow regular imports into the country of Honda models from the United States, led to the large decline.
Fiat, which until the 1990s was one of the strongest brands in the local car market, put only 860 cars on the roads in 2020, a crash of 42%, while its sports brand Abarth increased its dedication by 43% with the hot versions of the aging 500, For 30 dedications. Isuzu delivered 887 cars and dropped at the same rate, amid the economic crisis that hit its business customers, and a shortage of stock ahead of the arrival of the newly launched D-Max. Ssangyong, which is also in trouble around the world, lost 35% and Nissan dropped 33%.
On the other hand, in a year of declines, there were also brands that managed to grow. Chrysler, which sells only one model in the country, the Pacifica minivan, added 39% this year with dedication. MG grew by 36%, mainly due to the increase in the dedication of the electric version to the ZS, which reached 688 units. While in the luxury market, in a year when Mercedes (5%), Audi (17%) and BMW (31%) lost sales, Jaguar grew by 25%. Seat rose 12%, ranking sixth in the sales table, ahead of Mazda, Suzuki and Renault.
Audi continued to lead the luxury market with 3,180 dedications, with Mercedes retaining second place (2,957, but including light commercials), and BMW on third (2,047). Volvo delivered 1,731 units, unchanged from last year, and Lexus 1,482, down 8%. Cadillac delivered 427 units and Porsche 148, both recording slight increases, 7% and 5%, respectively.
In contrast, Maserati recorded a decrease of 33% with a dedication of only 27 cars, and Bentley in its second year in the country delivered 18 units (-22%). Ferrari dropped from 8 cars to 6 this year (25%) and the biggest drop in the market was recorded by Aston Martin, which put only 3 new cars on the roads in 2020, a drop of 57%.
As we already announced a few days ago, electric car sales recorded a record this year with 1,486 dedications. MG ZS EV leads with 686 new cars, Audi e-tron with 330, ahead of GAC GE3 (with 147), Renault Zoe (109), Jaguar i-Pace and Nissan Leaf (60 units each). The Peugeot e2008 delivered 31 units, one more than the Hyundai Ionic. The new Mercedes EQC and Porsche Takeken delivered 13 units each.
Smart delivered the first 10 trams and Tesla put 10 cars on the road that are used by the company’s Israeli affiliate but were all registered as private. This year, the number of trams is expected to double, with more than 400 trams expected in January alone, along with a significant increase in fast-charging infrastructure along the roads and regular parking.
And finally, among the importers, Colmobil continues to enjoy for many years the great dominance of Hyundai in the market. In second place is a champion that enjoys sales of no less than four brands. Two of them are doing well – Seat and Skoda – while Volkswagen is lagging more and Audi has been starring in the luxury category for years. Union third thanks to the great success of Toyota and Talkar fourth, with the strong Kia brand.
