The year began with new car prices. Inflation seems to be rampant throughout the world and governments (and central banks) play with their weapons trying to contain it. Cars are no strangers to this situation and prices have been rising for months. And in this Tesla goes and lowers the prices of the Model 3 and Model Y at the beginning of the year. Not a little, it was thousands of dollars that brought him some problem with customers who had made reservations with the previous price, as in China.
Last week we saw that Ford announced very interesting discounts for its Mustang Mach-E. And not a little, since on average they dropped $4,500. Almost 10%, which is a lot. And of course, before this movement, many might think that a price war was beginning in electric cars… and it seems that this is not going to be the case.
For starters, that Ford price drop was exclusively in the United States. And just a few hours later Oliver Blume, the CEO of Volkswagen, was quick to point out that he wants to become a world leader in electric vehicles through profitable growth, not a price war with Tesla.
In The Verge They have contacted other manufacturers. In Hyundai they consider that their Ioniq 5, Ioniq 6 and Hyundai Kona “offer consumers advanced technology and features at an attractive price”… although they also indicate that they constantly evaluate the market to ensure that their vehicles have a competitive price.
They got the same response from BMW and Mercedes-Benz: There are no plans to review the current pricing strategy, not specifically for electric cars.
And if the market forces?
Although GM does not seem to be betting on discounts in its electric range either, according to its executive director, Mary Barra, we read in Reuters that some analysts do not believe that it can maintain them. Wells Fargo said in a report that it expects the automaker to cut prices as a result of competitive pressure.
With much higher margins per vehicle than other manufacturers, Tesla can make these moves at times of overproduction like today. It is a very different situation from that of other manufacturers, who have electric models in their portfolios even without being profitable.
Without a doubt, in 2023 we will begin to clearly see winners and losers in the electric car business. It is a race in which it is vital to have a good platform ready on which to start manufacturing different vehicles and scale production… and profits. When all the cards are on the table we will be able to see a real price competition… which for now in Europe is neither here nor expected.
Source: The Verge
