AutoItalia exits Stein era. Sales tripling, the new shareholder's target

05.05.2011 ZF English

Eighteen years after setting up the business, Herbert Stein is selling AutoItalia, one of the top local vehicle importers, to Israel's Mediterranean Car Agency.

Herbert Stein, 81, the first foreign investor on the domestic car market, who in 1993 founded AutoItalia, and in '94 set up the Association of Automotive Manufacturers and Importers (APIA) together with several importers, yesterday officially handed out the reins of the company to Ori Lehav, the CEO of Mediterranean Car Agency and a temporary CEO with AutoItalia Group.

The official announcement came several days after ZF wrote about the sale, a deal that people close to the matter said was worth some EUR20 million.

The exact value of the deal has not been disclosed either by Herbert Stein, or the officials of Mediterranean Car Agency. Ori Lehav only said "it's several million euro, but less than EUR100 million".

At yesterday's event, Ori Lehav talked about restructuring steps and sales tripling by 2015, to 7,000-10,000 units, while Stein was still less confident in the rebound of the domestic market.