Monthly Review April 2022

Preface – Economic Climate

The Israeli economy is an advanced economy that belongs to the OECD organization. The GDP per capita is $52,281 and the growth rate in 2021 is estimated by 8.1%.

Israel is recovering from the Covid-19 crisis that has affected the Israeli economy significantly since 2020. The deficit in May 2021 – April 2022 is 0.6% from the GDP, the debt-to-GDP ratio is 65.2%. The unemployment rate is 3.6% but the unofficial unemployment rate is about 5.1%. The new government gave a good signal to the markets by passing a new budget for the first time in 3 years. From a monetary point of view, the crisis is being managed professionally by the Bank of Israel, which is monitoring the local credit market and solving liquidity problems through plans to purchase bonds and keep interest rates low. In April the interest rate rose to 0.35% due to the rise of inflation.

Along with the economic stabilization and quick growth, there has been an increase in the inflation rate, as of April the annual rate is 4%. The Chief Economist in the Ministry of Finance predicts a similar increase next year as well.

Statistical Profile

Society

Population (April 2022): 9.493 Million

Economy

GDP per capita (April 2022): $ 52,281

Inflation (April 2022):4% Annual Growth Rate

Current Account Balance (Q4 2021): 5% of GDP

Trade in Goods and Services (April 2022): $13.65 billion

Finance

US Dollar Exchange rate (April 2022): NIS 3.24

Euro Exchange rate (April 2022): NIS 3.5

Long-term interest rates (April 2022): 2.06% Per Annum

Short-term interest rates (April 2022): 0.73% Per Annum

Government

Debt to GDP ratio (April 2022): 65.2%

Deficit to GDP (May 2021 to April 2022): 0.6%

Motorization

Level of Motorization (2020): 397 Vehicles/1,000 Residence

Innovation and Technology

Gross Domestic Spending on R&D (2020): 5.43% of GDP

Environment

CO2 Emissions (2018): 6.98 Tonnes Per Capita

Jobs

Employment Rate (Q1 2022): 69.05% of Working Age Population

Official Unemployment Rate (April 2022): 3.6% of Labour Force

Unofficial Unemployment Rate (including non-paid absence due to Covid-19): 5.1% of Labour Force

New Cars and CV Registrations

 New Passenger Car Registration: Jan-April 2022

Passenger car registration: a decrease of 17.8% compared with March 2021; Since January 2022, a decrease of 11.5% compared with Jan-April 2021.

In April 2022, the Israeli passenger car market registered 20,408 new cars. This figure represents a decrease of 17.8% compared with April 2021. Since January 2022, 110,897 new cars were registered – a decrease of 11.5% compared with Jan-April 2021.

New Passenger Cars Registration According to Brands: Jan-April 2022

New CV above 3.5 ton Registration: Jan-April 2022

Commercial Vehicles above 3.5 ton registration: -14% compared with April 2021. Since the beginning of the year, a decrease of 3.9% in registrations.

In April 2022, the Israeli market for CV above 3.5 ton registered a decrease of 14% with 1,145 new registrations, compared with 1,332 units in April 2021. Since January, 5,925 units were registered – a decrease of 3.9% compared Jan-Apr 2021.

New CV above 3.5 ton Registration According to Brands: Jan-April 2022

New Bus Registration According to Brands: Jan-April 2022

Israel's Auto and Auto-Tech industry

Innoviz Selected as LiDAR supplier for one of the Largest Vehicle Manufacturers in the World

Innoviz, a leading provider of high performance LiDAR sensor and perception software for the Auto industry, announced that it has been selected by one of the largest vehicle manufacturers in the world to become its direct LiDAR supplier across multiple brands. The selection will increase Innoviz's forward looking order book by 4BN$, the identity of the auto manufacturer has not been disclosed yet. Innoviz was founded in 2016 and is traded on NASDAQ since April 2021, following a SPAC merger.

Apollo Wins JEC Innovation Award

Apollo Power is an Israeli hi-tech company that developed a diverse and flexible Energy-Film that can turn any surface into an energy source. Now, the company has won the innovation award at the JEC WORLD 2022, the leading international composites show, held in Paris in the beginning of May. The award was given to Apollo for designing a solar roof for an EV in collaboration with Audi.

From Next Year: Autonomous Bus Tests to be carried out in Israel  

The Israeli ministry of transportation and innovation authority will promote a 2-stage pilot/experiment in order to examine the feasibility of using autonomous vehicles in public transportation. Initially, the innovation authority will publish a RFP in order to match public transportation operators with auto-tech companies specializing in autonomous vehicle systems. The winners will receive a grant and carry out experiments in restricted areas. In the second phase, companies that will successfully finish the 1st stage, and subject to regulatory approval, will be granted a license to operate experimental public transportation using autonomous vehicles. The 1st stage is due to take off in the beginning of 2023 and the experiment will end by 2025. The aim is to advance the use autonomous vehicles in public transportation, the smallest vehicles that will be able to participate in the pilot will have at least 8 seats, and the estimated investment by the ministry of transportation and the innovation authority is 20M$. 

Colmobil Enters Renewable Energies by Acquiring Enerpoint

Colmobil group, the largest auto importer in Israel with a market share of over 25%, enters the field of renewable energy. Colmobil will acquire100% of Enerpoint which specializes in solar energy and has been active for 12 years, according to a valuation of 160M NIS. Enerpoint is presently not directly active in the automotive market, but it is likely to develop synergies with Colmobil's activity, such as development of EV charging infrastructure based on renewable energy.

Cellcom Telecommunications Launches "Cellcom EV"

Cellcom, one of the largest telecommunications companies in Israel, enters the field of EV charging by launching "Cellcom EV" – charging bundles that include electricity in a fixed and pre-determined price. The company will start selling smart EV charging stations produced by EV METER. Cellcom clients will benefit from an all-in-one solution: charging stations, electric infrastructure, load management, service, billing and a dedicated app. They will also enjoy two charging bundles: a basic one for 49 NIS a month plus the cost of electicity and 0.3NIS for each kW/h, or the extended bundle that costs 199NIS and includes 300 kW/h of charging.

QUESTAR Launches New Vehicle Health Management Technology

QUESTAR an auto-tech company, launched a new vehicle health management (VHM) technology at Eco-Motion conference held in Israel in the beginning of May. The technology combines advanced telemetry with AI, converts the data gathered into maintenance and business insights, diagnoses malfunctions swiftly and accurately and enables corrective actions across all systems of the vehicle. QESTAR was born earlier this year when Traffilog merged with SafeRide technologies, the former with 15 years of experience in automotive data and telemetry, and the later coming from the worlds of AI and machine learning.