Volkswagen, Skoda, and Audi importer Champion Motors Ltd. today petitioned the Administrative Court to void the tender for the procurement of BMWs for ministers by the Ministry of Finance. The company contends that the tender's original threshold conditions and technical specifications were subsequently cancelled. The company says that the specification for a car with 200 horsepower was the reason why it did not participate in the tender, even though it was the only vendor in the previous tender for ministers' cars.
Champion Motors says that, after the specification was cancelled, the second winner in the tender, the Citroen C5, has a much smaller engine than 200 horsepower. In early July, The Ministry of Finance's Motor Vehicle Administration picked the BMW 528i as the next car of cabinet ministers. The consumer price of the BMW 528i is NIS 398,000; the ministry says that the importer, Delek Automotive Systems Ltd. (TASE: DLEA), is offering a 48% discount, lowering the price to NIS 207,000.
Champion Motors filed the petition after the Ministry of Finance refused to cancel the results of the tender.
The Ministry of Finance has not yet bought either BMWs or Citroens for the ministers, but it is reportedly preparing contracts for signing, with the goal of beginning procurements by Rosh Hashana, the Jewish New Year, in mid-September.
In the public furor over the tender, Minister of Finance Yuval Steinitz called for a review of it, as it was unseemly for ministers to receive BMWs when the government was preparing austerity measures. Industry sources believe that Accountant General Michal Abadi-Boiangiu may use the petition to the courts as a way for the ministry to back down over the BMWs.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on August 8, 2012
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