The Israeli auto market is on the way to a new record. According to initial estimates, 44,000 new cars were delivered in January, an average of 1,760 per day. Most of the orders were for cars released from customs in December ahead of the tax increase resulting from the revision of tax breaks for environmentally friendly vehicles. Orders for vehicle fleets dating back to the fourth quarter of 2016 were also high. The previous record of "only" 36,000 vehicles delivered was set in January 2016.
The first official figure for deliveries, published today by Mercedes-Benz, shows that the luxury brand delivered 1,100 new vehicles in January alone - a number equal to its entire annual deliveries several years ago. 100 of these new cars were S class models priced at NIS 750,000-1,100,000 each. A considerable proportion of these S class cars were the S500 hybrid plugin model priced at NIS 750,000 after tax benefits amounting to hundreds of thousands of shekels for environmentally friendly vehicles.
Imports of hybrid plugin models, which became fashionable last year among very wealthy Israelis, are growing. The most recent addition is by Porsche, which has begun filling orders for two of the company's plugin models.
The first is the Cayenne E-hybrid road-field car, equipped with a three-liter 416-horsepower electrical engine capable of traveling 35 kilometers on electricity alone and accelerating from zero to 100 kilometers per hour in 5.9 seconds. This car is being imported at a high level of finishing for NIS 585,000 after the tax benefits. Porsche has also begun marketing in Israel of its luxury 462-horsepower Panamera 4 E-hybrid sports car model with a similar propulsion system. This model , which can travel up to 25 kilometers on electricity only, with a maximum speed of 278 kilometers per hour, is priced at NIS 749,000 after the tax benefits at a high platinum level of finishing.
Published by Globes [online], Israel Business News - www.globes-online.com - on February 1, 2017
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