Who doesn't know the price we pay for a spare part that the mechanic assures us is "original"? (Photo: ShutterStock)
How many times have you arrived at the garage due to a small malfunction and left with a bill that made you sweat, after you had to replace a piston, pipe or pad - which the mechanic assured were original from the manufacturer from abroad? It is possible that soon this nightmare will pass and a visit to the garage will cost less, both in health and in the pocket
. Decided to fight the prices of the auto parts market, which is considered a highly profitable industry, constitutes a significant share of the importers' turnover and...contributes to the cost of living that many families in Israel face.
Economy Minister Nir Barkat
is promoting a law that will prevent exclusive auto importers from marketing parts to garages , the law will be brought to the Knesset for approval outside of the Arrangements Law. The "Spare Parts Law" is supposed to separate the import of vehicles from the marketing of spare parts, which should lower their price, which is significantly higher than that in Europe and the USA.
Similar to the bill submitted by Barkat to prevent damage to parallel imports, which was formulated under the leadership of the Competition Authority and approved yesterday at the cabinet meeting, an importer who tries to interfere with the import of spare parts by various means (such as, for example, pressure on the importer abroad not to sell goods), will risk a heavy punishment.
In the case of the competition reform approved by the government - A fine of up to 100 million shekels, which will be imposed on an importer who sabotages the bringing of products into Israel by parallel imports. In the case of the spare parts reform: the state will deprive the vehicle importer of the ability to bring and market the vehicles in Israel.
Nir Barkat, Minister of Economy.
Will the law he is promoting succeed in doing what previous initiatives failed to do? (Photo: Reuven Castro)
Original from the importer
The spare parts market is divided into two: original spare parts from the car manufacturer and spare parts that do not come in a branded box from the manufacturer.
The replacements are also divided into two, spare parts that are produced by the companies that supply them to car manufacturers, such as Bosch for example, and those that are produced by companies that supply to distributors only.
In March 2022, the State Comptroller published a report that examined the spare parts market in Israel and determined that most of the parts sold by exclusive importers are about 50% more expensive than those of parallel importers and the prices of the rest are 100% and even 200% higher.
The auditor recommended that the Ministry of Transportation and the Competition Authority work to increase competitiveness in the spare parts industry in order to lower prices.
Over the years, several reforms were announced in the spare parts market, which were supposed to reduce them by dozens of percent, but in practice nothing happened.
In 2013, the Minister of Transportation at the time, Israel Katz, announced the increase in competition in the automotive industry, and the outgoing Minister, Merav Michaeli, also launched the spare parts price index, which was practiced at all during Miri Regev's time in the ministry.
The index was supposed to bring good news to the citizens of Israel, but made several unfounded comparisons, was cumbersome and finally stopped being updated after only a few weeks.
The way to lower the price of spare parts is the same way you can lower other imported brands: increasing price awareness, increasing competition and removing barriers to imports.
The manufacturers are obliged to publish the price list of the spare parts on their websites, but it is difficult for the lay consumer to find his way around the table filled with dozens of items with obscure names.
Will Barkat's reform succeed in changing what transport ministers for generations failed to do?
We can only hope for the best.
Of money
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Tags
garage
Spare parts
Nir Barkat
Ministry of Economy
