Tzvi Neta, chairman and CEO of Misgar Tnuah, said the Israeli market is now being shaped by price, timing and rival launches, as the company sells Suzuki and Changan models side by side, including Suzuki’s new e-Vitara and Changan’s discounted Deepal S05. He noted that Changan’s earlier, more expensive S07 was hard to sell, forcing the importer to re-register more than 1,000 cars as zero-kilometer used vehicles and later discount them heavily.
Neta, 74, is one of the industry’s longest-serving executives. He began running the company in 1981, after it was founded by his father Joe Buxenbaum, and helped bring some of the first Japanese cars to Israel with Suzuki’s launch in 1983. Over the years the company imported brands including Porsche, Talbot-Simca, Jeep, Chrysler and Ford, and today also imports MAN trucks and buses, heavy equipment and tires.
He said Changan is now the company’s main growth bet, with the first plug-in hybrid version of the S05 due in August at about 155,000 shekels, only a few thousand shekels above the electric version. He said there is demand because in Israel, “for every electric car, three plug-ins are sold,” and added that the company is also looking at Chinese buses and electric tractor units, although new public transport tenders are frozen because of the war.
Asked about the wider market, Neta said Chinese brands now exceed 40% of Israeli sales and believes electric-car share will recover. He argued Suzuki can withstand Chinese competition because it remains strong in Japan, India and other Asian markets, and he said the new e-Vitara adds an electric option to a brand that previously lacked one. On the current market he said, “the Israelis are addicted to cars,” pointing to nearly 300,000 sales in the war year and strong early 2026 demand despite the fighting in Gaza, Lebanon and Iran.
He also defended Chinese cars against privacy and spying concerns, saying European rules keep data in Europe, and said Chinese interfaces have improved though they still rely too much on touch screens. Looking ahead, he said the industry is now too risky to recommend to new investors, even though he still thinks cars will remain indispensable.
