Tesla granted import license for Israel

Tesla is preparing to launch the Model 3 on a large scale in Israel. The company has just been given a license from Israel’s Ministry of Transportation to import its electric cars without volume restrictions. Until now, Tesla was only allowed to import up to twenty vehicles in Israel, mainly for testing purposes.

As reported by the Israeli newspaper Globes, this is the first time that a vehicle manufacturer has been granted a license to directly import and market vehicles in Israel, other than through a local dealer. This is also the reason for the previous restriction, where Tesla was classified as a “small importer”. Globes already speculated last year about a possible market entry of Tesla, but at that time had rather assumed the second half of 2021.

With the unlimited import permit now granted, Tesla will take online orders from Israeli customers over the course of the next few days, according to the report, this initially means for the Model 3 in various variants. However, the newspaper also reported that due to Covid lockdowns, it may take several months before the ordered vehicles can be delivered. Exact prices have still not yet been revealed. In parallel, Tesla is examining locations for its Superchargers and Destination Chargers in Israel and is working to obtain the appropriate permits.

In Israel, even major import companies operated by manufacturers are quite rare, as the market itself and the surrounding countries are not attractive enough for most manufacturers to get directly involved. Accordingly, local car dealers and importers have great market power and independence. In addition, price negotiations with customers and discounts are common at these dealers, but Tesla relies on online direct purchasing at fixed prices.

Meanwhile, Tesla shares reached a new record high at the beginning of the year. An increase in the share value of around five per cent on the first trading day of the new year to around 740 US dollars ensured a market capitalisation of around 700 billion dollars, the equivalent of around 570 billion euros. The five per cent increase in the share price alone corresponded to an additional market capitalisation of around 45 billion dollars (36.7 billion euros).

The most important reason for the new record high on the stock market is certainly to be seen in the fact that Tesla, with 499,550 vehicles delivered last year, achieved all but a few units of the target of half a million electric cars proclaimed before the Corona pandemic.

globes.co.il (import in Israel), electrek.co, marketwatch.com (both stock market)