Erdogan shifts car market: Hyundai loses top spot in Israel

For 15 years now, Hyundai has been the top-selling car in Israel, a longer period than when Subaru, Mazda, and Mitsubishi led the Israeli car market before it. And then Erdogan came.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's decision to halt trade with Israel in protest against its actions against Hamas following the October 7 attack stopped the import of three Hyundai models to Israel, i20, i10, and Bayon. The first two are strategic models for the local market, responsible for a third of its sales.

The results can already be seen in the licensing office data, including total car imports to the country, not just official importers' data. According to preliminary data for May, 18.8 thousand new cars were delivered, a 24% drop compared to May 2023. Since the beginning of the year, 130,640 new cars have been delivered, a decrease of about 15%, making last month the biggest drop since the year began.

Hyundai lost its first place this month in both monthly and cumulative sales. With 1,059 new cars in May and 15,292 in the first five months of the year, it was surpassed in sales by Toyota, which delivered 3,220 new cars last month and 15,727 since the beginning of the year. Toyota also lost two important models due to the Turkish embargo, the Corolla sedan and the C-HR crossover, but it seems that the Japanese manufacturer will find it easier to compensate for the loss, with increased supply of the British-made Corolla Station, the French Yaris Cross, and the Japanese Corolla Cross.

Kia, which delivered 1,510 cars in May and 12,990 cars since the beginning of the year, solidifies its third place in the cumulative ranking. BYD delivered 1,059 cars in May and 8,950 since the beginning of the year, ranking fourth cumulatively, followed by Skoda, which is among the few manufacturers showing growth in sales this year, after delivering 1,399 cars in May and 8,850 cumulatively.

Closing the list of the top ten best-selling manufacturers are: Mazda (6,500), Mitsubishi (5,050), Chery (4,620), Suzuki (4,257), and Seat (3,400), which also recorded exceptional deliveries in May with 1,335 cars.

Standing out in May are the sales of electric cars. Only 3,850 such cars were delivered in May, with a market share of 20%, compared to 25% cumulatively since the beginning of the year.

Nevertheless, BYD ATTO 3 continues to be the best-selling car in the country since the beginning of the year, with 6,450 units, ahead of Skoda Octavia (4,075), Hyundai Elantra (3,550), Toyota Corolla (2,770), and Kia Picanto (2,560).