Rami Ungar is an Israeli businessman, born 1947, who controls Talcar, Israel's exclusive Kia importer, and Ray Shipping, a vehicle-carrier shipping company holding roughly 10 percent of the world's car-carrier fleet, with an estimated net worth of $3.9 billion as of 2022.

Rami Ungar: Kia Importer and Shipping Tycoon

The Builders | Olam.business

Rami Ungar is the Israeli businessman who built a $3.25 billion fortune per Forbes Israel's 2022 ranking starting from a small chicken-coop ventilation import business, becoming Kia's exclusive Israeli importer through Talcar and controlling a large share of the world's vehicle-carrier shipping fleet through Ray Shipping, a company whose vessel was seized by Houthi forces in November 2023.

He started by importing fans for chicken coops. He now moves cars across oceans and controls the distribution rights that a former Mossad chief once personally intervened to help decide.

Snapshot

Born	1946, Abraham "Rami" Ungar; raised in north Tel Aviv
Education	Law degree, Tel Aviv University; served as an IDF signal corps officer
First business	Late 1960s, small business importing ventilation systems for chicken coops
Estimated net worth	$3.25 billion, per Forbes Israel's 2022 ranking
Talcar	Controls Kia (since 2008), SsangYong/KGM import franchises for Israel
Ray Shipping	Vehicle-carrier fleet chartered long-term to major world shipping lines
Ship seizure	November 19, 2023: Houthi forces seized the Galaxy Leader, a Ray Shipping-linked vessel, with crew from multiple countries aboard
Real estate	Founding member of Phoenix real estate fund; holdings in Israel, Eastern Europe, and the United States

How did Rami Ungar go from ventilation fans to auto imports?

Rami Ungar grew up in north Tel Aviv, served as an IDF signal corps officer, and earned a law degree from Tel Aviv University, according to his Wikipedia biography. He entered the workforce in the late 1960s with a small business importing ventilation systems for chicken coops, then pivoted into the auto trade, becoming the first Israeli importer of the Italian Autobianchi brand and later Lancia. Alongside Netzba, a company owned by members of the Egged bus cooperative, Ungar also imported Daihatsu vehicles into Israel; he sold his stake in that agency to Netzba in 1985, then bought back full control of it in 1989.

How did Rami Ungar win the Kia franchise?

Ungar's company Talcar secured the exclusive license to import Kia vehicles into Israel in 2008, a franchise that had previously belonged to businessman Michael Levy, who had earlier purchased the Lancia import rights from Ungar in 1990. The transition triggered a prolonged legal dispute between the two men, Ungar's Hebrew Wikipedia entry notes, which Israeli courts ultimately resolved in Ungar's favor. In 2013, while serving as deputy head of Mossad, Yossi Cohen intervened in the ongoing Kia franchise dispute on Ungar's behalf, according to a former Mossad official's account reported by TheMarker; separate TheMarker reporting on the donation trail found that Ungar's attorney confirmed Ungar was behind roughly NIS 1.1 million in donations, made partly through a Panama-registered company, to the synagogue across from Cohen's home. Since Talcar took over the franchise, Kia's sales in Israel have grown substantially, with Talcar also importing SsangYong, later KGM-branded, vehicles.

How big is Rami Ungar's shipping business?

Beyond auto imports, Ungar built Ray Shipping, a vehicle-carrier shipping company built around chartering vessels with crews through his Greek management company to some of the world's largest freight and logistics operators, with most of the fleet under long-term charter. On November 19, 2023, during the Israel-Hamas war, Houthi forces in Yemen seized the Galaxy Leader, a vessel connected to Ungar's shipping fleet, an incident Wikipedia's entry on Ungar dates and documents, drawing international attention to the exposure of Israeli-linked commercial shipping during the conflict — the same Houthi campaign that helped push the Red Sea port of Eilat out of commercial operation by 2024.

What is Rami Ungar's real estate portfolio?

Ungar holds real estate assets in Israel, Eastern Europe, and the United States, and is a founding member of the Phoenix real estate fund, managed by Shlomo Grofman. Disclosed transactions include a roughly 105 million shekel land purchase in Herzliya Pituach in 2021, and in April 2022, Talcar's roughly NIS 264 million acquisition of Flying Cargo's stake in income-generating real estate company Vitania, a deal Globes reported that made Ungar a shareholder in Vitania and reflects a broader pattern among Israel's large car importers of diversifying into cash-generating real estate. Ungar has since expanded that position through further share purchases, including a 13% stake bought from the Propper family for NIS 140 million, TheMarker reported, bringing Talcar's holding to roughly 43%.

Why does Rami Ungar matter to Israeli business history?

Ungar built one of Israel's largest privately held fortunes across three genuinely distinct businesses, auto import distribution, global vehicle-carrier shipping, and income real estate, starting from a chicken-coop ventilation supplier with no capital advantage. The Kia franchise dispute, escalating to Mossad-level intervention, and the wartime seizure of a Ray Shipping-linked vessel by Houthi forces both illustrate how far Ungar's low-profile businesses reach into Israel's geopolitical and security exposure, well beyond what a car importer's public profile would suggest.

FAQ

Who is Rami Ungar?

Rami Ungar is an Israeli businessman, born 1946, who controls Talcar, Israel's exclusive Kia importer, and Ray Shipping, a vehicle-carrier shipping company, with an estimated net worth of $3.25 billion per Forbes Israel's 2022 ranking.

What is Talcar?

Talcar is Rami Ungar's Israeli auto-import company, holding the exclusive license to import Kia vehicles since 2008 and SsangYong/KGM vehicles, after winning a prolonged legal dispute over the Kia franchise with prior importer Michael Levy.

What happened to Rami Ungar's ship in 2023?

On November 19, 2023, Houthi forces in Yemen seized the Galaxy Leader, a vessel linked to Ungar's Ray Shipping fleet, during the Israel-Hamas war.

How did Rami Ungar start his career?

He began in the late 1960s with a small business importing ventilation systems for chicken coops before moving into auto imports, becoming Israel's first importer of the Italian Autobianchi and later Lancia brands.