Eilat port jammed as Car sales hitting three-year low

The port of Eilat said that at the end of October it had 24,000 new vehicles in storage and that additional 6,200 vehicles are due to be delivered in early November
 
Motor vehicle industry sources estimated last week that car sales could fall to fewer than 8,000 in October 2008.
 
The figure is almost half the figure for September 2008, and 60% lower than the monthly average for the year.
 
In the past three years, monthly car sales have almost never fallen below 10,000 units.
The recession combined with a freeze in new vehicle sales have caused an unprecedented jam of new vehicles in Eilat's red sea port, the country's main gateway for vehicle imports from Japan and Korea.
 
Industry sources site two main factors causing the drop in sales. The first being expectation by the public that prices will be significantly reduced in January, following the updating of car use valuations published by the Ministry of Finance in September. The second being the international financial situation which caused concern among leasing companies that the cost of credit could rise sharply.
 
The port of Eilat said that at the end of October it had 24,000 new vehicles in storage (over 9,000 of the vehicles in Eilat port were manufactured by Mazda) and that additional 6,200 vehicles are due to be delivered to Eilat port in early November.