As of: January 29, 2024, 5:51 p.m
By: Nico Reiter
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Some electric car producers have reduced their prices after the environmental bonus ended.
However, one of the largest manufacturers in Europe does not want to go along;
for good reason.
Bremen – Almost ten years ago, electric vehicles were on average more than twice as expensive as vehicles with combustion engines.
Today the prices are getting closer and closer to each other.
An electric car is now only around 1.5 times as expensive as a petrol or diesel vehicle.
The reasons for this are diverse;
but paradoxically also have to do with the end of environmental subsidies.
Because of the abolition of the state environmental bonus in December 2023, some manufacturers of electric cars have further reduced their prices in order to further drive sales.
This triggered a real discount battle.
However, not all manufacturers follow this strategy.
Stellantis boss warns of price cuts for electric cars – “bloodbath”
Stellantis boss Carlos Tavares commented on the trend in the
Financial Times
: “If you cut prices without taking real costs into account, there will be a bloodbath.”
Stellantis is the second largest car manufacturer in Europe after VW and produces the brands Fiat, Opel, Citroën and Jeep, among others.
However, Tavares has no plans to get his cars involved in the price war.
He considers his models to be well positioned even without discounts.
The Citroën ë-C3 from Stellantis, for example, is available for less than 25,000 euros.
The Citroën ë-C3 by Stellantis © Mauro Ujetto/Thomas Padilla/Imago
Since the end of the environmental bonus, many brands have reduced their prices.
An example of this is Renault.
The Mégane E-Tech has become up to 6,700 euros cheaper.
Dacia, a subsidiary of Renault, is currently offering a discount of 10,000 euros on the Spring electric entry-level model.
This means that if the vehicle is registered by the end of March, it will only cost 12,750 euros.
– almost half the price of the Stellantis model.
VW has also significantly reduced its prices.
US manufacturer sees profits fall – price cuts can be harmful
However, the manufacturer is cautious about price cuts.
His concerns are based on the experiences of a competitor.
“I know a company that has brutally reduced prices and whose profitability has collapsed brutally,” according to experts, this probably means Tesla.
The U.S. automaker has cut prices several times in the past year to boost demand, but at the same time has seen a decline in profits.
The manufacturer recently reduced the price of the Model Y by up to 5,000 euros.
The best-selling electric car in Germany is now available from 42,990 euros.
A cheaper Tesla model is being planned.
Although electric car sales are increasing worldwide, they are growing more slowly than expected compared to their alternatives.
According to
the Financial Times,
sales in Europe actually fell last year.
Brands such as VW, BYD, Dacia, Renault, Fiat and Tesla are now offering their electric cars at cheaper prices.
But lowering prices is not always beneficial.
If prices are reduced too much without taking costs into account, the company could be considered for a takeover.
Therefore, Stellantis is unlikely to lower its prices.
Instead, the manufacturer will cover the original environmental bonus upon purchase until the end of February 2024.
The editor wrote this article and then used an AI language model for optimization at his own discretion. All information has been carefully checked.
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