The Israeli economy may have opened 2014 with cutbacks, layoffs, and declines in the capital market, but this is not felt in the vehicles industry. Vehicle delivery figures for January, collected by "Globes", indicate that more than 27,000 vehicles were delivered during the month, an all-time high.
Deliveries exceeded the highest forecasts by the industry, which predicted 24,000-25,000 vehicle deliveries in January.
Deliveries soared in almost every market segment, and were especially strong in the high-end segment. For example, Audi delivered 640 cars in January, almost 40% of all deliveries in 2013. Mercedes Benz also reported an all-time monthly high of 400 deliveries.
Industry sources partly attribute the strong sales in January to the public postponing purchases from December, which was an especially weak month, and to aggressive discounts. January was also affected by strong inventory renewal by large leasing fleets, after the expiry of leasing contracts from 2011, which was a record year for procurements by leasing companies.
Although industry sources do not think that the pace of sales in January will continue, 2014 is still set to be a record year for vehicle sales.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on February 3, 2014
© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2014