Carasso CEO: They said you’re crazy to take the job

Izaac (Itzik) Weitz, CEO of prosperous vehicle importer Carasso Motors (TASE: CRSM), can look back with gratitude at the family disputes that brought him to the management of the company twenty years ago. On Monday, Weitz sold shares that he held (about 3% of the company) to More Investment House for NIS 122 million. Carasso Motors deputy CEO Oren Elezra also took advantage of the company’s peak share price to sell shares to More for NIS 38 million.

In the past year, the share price of the company controlled by the Carasso family has risen by 130%. Over the past five years, the rise is 600%.

Weitz (73) accumulated the stake he sold over his twenty years as CEO. For years, he has been among the highest paid executives at TASE-listed companies. He remains with a 0.6% stake in Carasso, worth NIS 22 million, plus options that he received last October that are exercisable after a year. On paper, the options are in the money to the tune of NIS 30 million.

In addition to that, since 2010, Weitz has received salary and bonuses amounting to NIS 111 million. Altogether, including the shares just sold, those he continues to hold, and the options, Weitz has garnered NIS 284 million in his time at Carasso.

Company strongman

Itzik Weitz is much more than another CEO selling shares. Although he is a salaried executive in a company that has a controlling core, he is the strongman there. He came to Carasso in 2005, following a dispute between members of the third generation of the Carasso family, which led to a dispute between their parents as well.

Weitz was called to the flag as a candidate agreed upon by the various factions in the Carasso family. He left the management of the Israeli branch of car rental company Avis, where he had been for twelve years. He came to Avis after serving as CFO of Israeli car rental firm Eldan for four years, when his relationship with the owner, Yossi Dahan, fell apart. Weitz later said that “we parted because of serious differences of opinion.”

In 2007, two years after taking up the post at Carasso, Weitz said in an interview with “Globes”: “Everyone tried to scare me and said that I was crazy if I took the job, because they wouldn’t let me work and they wouldn’t let me live, because I wasn’t one of the family. Since I’m aware of my abilities and know that I get along with people, and also after I met them and realized that they were decent people, I took the job.” In 2011, Weitz led Carasso’s IPO on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange.

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Incidentally, deputy CEO Oren Elezra also came to Carasso from a rival in the automobile sector. He was previously CEO of car leasing company Albar for eight years, and, although he is the nephew of Albar controlling shareholder Eli Elezra, in 2022 he decided to switch to Carasso.

Carasso’s Chinese growth engine

Among the reasons for the recent surge in Carasso’s share price are its strong results in recent quarters. In the second quarter of 2025, its revenue grew by 58% to NIS 2.2 billion. This was mainly thanks to a jump is sales of new cars. For the first half year, revenue grew 43% to NIS 4.1 billion.

Carasso sold 23,900 new cars in the first half year, 82% more than in the first half of 2024. As a result, its share of the Israeli vehicles market jumped from 10.4% in the first half of 2024 to 13.8%.

The growth in sales was driven by Chinese brand Chery, which accounted for half the sales of new cars. In the first six months of this year, Carasso sold 10,800 Chery vehicles, 81% more than in the corresponding period of 2024. The trend has even strengthened in the third quarter.

Alongside Chery, sales of Carasso’s luxury Chinese brand Xpeng rose 230% to 3,700 units in the first half of this year. As for the company’s veteran brands, sales of Nissan vehicles grew 122% to 3,600 units, while Renault sales sank 58% to just 1,200.

In the second quarter, Carasso’s net profit jumped 89% in comparison with the corresponding quarter of 2024, to NIS 114 million. The strengthening of the shekel against the US dollar contributed significantly to the result. For the first half year, Carasso posted a profit of NIS 222 million.

Published by Globes, Israel business news – en.globes.co.il – on August 27, 2025.

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