Elbit to Employees: Chinese Cars Will Be Phased Out of the Leasing Fleet

Elbit Systems will gradually remove Chinese-made vehicles from the company’s leasing fleet, the company told employees. In the first stage, over the coming months, dozens of Chinese-made lease cars used by senior executives at the company will be replaced as their leasing contracts expire.

The vehicle replacement plan is not immediate and is expected to continue for several months and into next year. As leasing contracts expire, Chinese-made vehicles will be replaced by other non-Chinese cars. Elbit declined to comment.

Elbit’s vehicle fleet currently includes about 4,400 cars, some of them models made by Chinese manufacturers such as BYD and Geely. BYD itself was added this week to the Pentagon’s “black list,” meaning it is defined as a company that could pose a national security risk because of ties to the Chinese military.

The gradual removal of Chinese vehicles from Elbit’s fleet is not surprising: as first reported by Calcalist, the IDF began last year to restrict the entry of Chinese cars into military bases dealing with intelligence and technology. During the past year, the ban on bringing in Chinese-made vehicles became a blanket ban, applying to all IDF bases.

It should be noted that in the absence of Chinese cars, Elbit employees will have to make do with hybrid and electric vehicles made in Korea, Japan and Europe. As reported last week by Calcalist, the State of Israel canceled the tender for procuring electric vehicles. The main contenders in that tender were Chinese-made models, but not only those, Tesla electric models were also due to take part.

In a notice sent to tender participants, the Government Vehicle Administration said, "The tender committee determined that all vehicle categories (routes) published for the supply of electric vehicles in various segments have been canceled."

According to sources connected to the tender, the cancellation was not due to the involvement of Chinese car manufacturers, but because of cost considerations and a wait for models that would be priced more competitively.