The Israeli new car market is in decline. According to the Automobile Importers Association, since the beginning of the year until the end of August, a total of 201,212 new cars were delivered in Israel — a 15% decrease compared to the corresponding period last year, when 237,702 new cars were sold.

2021 was a record year for the Israeli automobile market and therefore some decrease was expected this year. However, the decline is greater than projected, mainly due to a global chip crisis as well as the war in Ukraine, which deepened the difficulties faced by the global supply chain, including the supply of components to the automotive industry. In such tight market conditions, Israeli importers decided to hike prices at the start of 2022 and they rose further with growing production and shipment costs.

Based on the figures compiled by the Automobile Importers Association, Hyundai remains the market leader with 37,615 deliveries (a growth of 2%). In second place is Toyota with 28,970 deliveries (an increase of 12%) and in third is Kia with 27,769 deliveries (+5%). European brands in the top 10 of the list have been the big losers with Skoda's deliveries dropping by over 80% to 9,863 units. Peugeot fell by roughly 30% to 4,960 while Seat sales crashed by over 125% to 4,690 vehicles.

But the big story concerning the Israeli new car market has been developing out of the top 10 — a significant rise in sales by Chinese electric vehicle (EV) manufacturers. Accordingly, among the all-electric vehicle brands, which account for roughly 6% of total car deliveries, China's Geely leads with 3,734 delivered since the beginning of the year. This figure places Geely 13th, surpassing Tesla, which delivered 2,023 compared to 4,468 during the same period last year. Geometric C, which Geely started marketing only last year, is currently the best-selling electric car in Israel. Another Chinese automaker, MG, sits at 14th with 3,667 deliveries, a 40% leap compared to the first eight months of 2021.