Bethel Finance: Car sales stay strong

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38,638 cars were delivered in Israel in January - February 2012, a slight fall of about 0.5% from the corresponding period last year, reports the Motor Vehicles Importers Association, on the basis of licensing statistics. In February alone, 18,444 new cars were delivered, a number extremely close to that of February 2011.

Hyundai continues to lead the list with 6,178 vehicles, a 45% rise over the corresponding period last year. Hyundai currently has a massive backlog due to limited supply, especially for models such as I35, which has a waiting list that stretches through to the third quarter.

In second place comes Ford with 4,155 deliveries, a 125% rise over the corresponding period last year. Ford also has long waiting lists for certain models. Kia comes in third place with 3,841 deliveries, a 27% rise. In fourth place comes Toyota with 3,036 vehicles, a 21% drop. In fifth place is Mazda with only 2,254 deliveries, a 56% drop over the corresponding period last year.

Sources in the automotive industry say that Delek Automotive Systems Ltd. (TASE: DLEA) is deliberately reducing sales of key models due to the serious erosion in profitability and the yen's high exchange rate.

Among companies, Colmobil Ltd. leads with 6,737 deliveries, a market share of 17.4%. Delek Automotive comes in second place with 6,409 deliveries and a market share of 16.6%, and Champion Motors Ltd., which includes Skoda, came in third place with 6,140 deliveries and a market share of 15.6%.