General Motors and Daimler have amped up the electric-car price war, announcing significant price cuts aimed at boosting demand in a still-sluggish segment of the US auto market.
GM slashed $5000 (R49 600) from the price of its 2014 Chevrolet Volt plug-in hybrid, while Daimler announced a steeply discounted monthly lease price of $139 (R1379) on its 2013 Smart ForTwo Electric Drive.
Plug-in vehicles such as the petrol-electric Volt and the pure-electric ForTwo ED have encountered stiff resistance from US consumers, in part because of their higher prices and lack of a nationwide battery charging network.
US sales of plug-in electric and petrol-electric vehicles up to the end of July were only 48 889 - just 0.54 percent of total US vehicle sales of 9.1 million in the first seven months of 2013.
The $5000 cut for the 2014 Volt will lower the price to $34 995 (R347 000), including delivery fees but before federal tax credits- it could fall as low as $27 495 (R272 750) with the tax credit.
GET SMART FOR $139 A MONTH
Daimler is offering Smart dealers a $2000 (R19 900) wholesale rebate on the 2013 ForTwo ED, effectively lowering the retail price to $23,750 (R235 600). Customers also can opt to lease the tiny battery-powered two-seater for $139 (R1379) a month for 36 months, with $1,995 (R19 800) down, a 30 percent discount from the previous monthly lease rate of $199 (R1974).
Smart has delivered only 173 ForTwo ED’s to US customers in 2013. It began offering an upgraded electric motor and battery pack in May and will start selling 2014 models in October. A redesigned ForTwo ED is expected for the 2015 model year.
Even before the latest price cut, the Volt has been one of the best-selling plug-in vehicles, with 11 643 US sales up to the end of July.
OUTSOLD BY TESLA
That’s roughly the same as the battery-powered Nissan Leaf, which has benefited from a hefty $6000 (R53 600) price cut in January. Including shipping, the 2013 Leaf retails for $29 650 (R294 100).
Both the Volt and the Leaf, however, have been outsold by the pricy Tesla Model S, which starts at nearly $71 000 (R700 000) and accounted for one-quarter of all US plug-in sales in the first seven months of 2013 with 12 200 deliveries.
Other electric-car competitors have also followed Nissan's lead with steep discounts. Honda slashed the lease price of its battery-powered Jazz by one-third in May and in July Ford reduced the price of its 2014 electric Focus by 10 percent.
CHEAPER SPARK
GM had already cut the price of the 2013 model Volt by $5000 (R49 600) to help boost demand. In late May it launched the Chevy Spark electric vehicle at a lower-than-expected starting price of $27 495 (R272 750) and is offering discounted leases on both cars.
The Volt price cut is another step in GM's effort to seize the mantle of “greenest automaker in the world” from Toyota, which makes the popular Prius, in both hybrid and plug-in versions.
GM is aiming to build up to 500 000 sales a year by 2017 of vehicles with some form of electric power, including the Volt, Spark EV and those with its eAssist system that boosts fuel-efficiency in petrol-powered cars.
GM will begin building the Cadillac ELR plug-in electric coupé late in 2013. - Reuters
Newsletter note: If you use Gmail to read IOL's newsletters , note that Google is rolling out a new, Promotions, Updates and Forums. IOL emails will probably be sent to the “Promotions” tab instead of the “Primary” tab. If you don't want it that way, drag the newsletter from the Promotions tab to the Primary tab. An alert will pop up. Click “yes” and your newsletters will continue to go to your Primary inbox.