Car dealers are slashing EV prices by 14% to stir-up dwindling demand
Car dealers are slashing the price of their new electric models in a desperate bid to revive sales in the face of declining demand for electric vehicles (EVs).
Discounts of up to 14 percent are now available on some EVs as manufacturers look to whet the appetite – a telltale indication that consumer interest is waning.
It translates into money savings of more than £4,000 on some EVs, according to market research conducted earlier this month.
It is the latest in a spate of reports in recent weeks pointing to declining demand for electric cars, despite the government ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel engines from 2030 taking effect just 79 months from now.
Dealers Cut New EV Prices to Boost Demand: A new market study has found that manufacturers are heavily discounting electric models to boost demand. For example, a Nissan Leaf is on sale at 14.2% off the list price
The biggest market reflection of declining demand for EVs in recent months has come from Tesla, with the American brand making headlines for slashing the price of its new models on several occasions so far this year to attract customers.
But other brands are now starting to follow suit and are cutting their showroom prices in an effort to attract more buyers, according to this latest analysis.
Which car? sent mystery shoppers to UK dealers to track down the biggest discounts on battery-powered models.
The Renault Zoe in ‘Iconic’ trim level has a road price of £31,995. But which car? says you can pick one up for just £29,262 – that’s a saving of 8.8%, equating to £2,734 off
The Peugeot e-208 is a relatively popular small EV. This ‘Allure Premium +’ spec car would normally cost £32,645, but dealers have slashed that by 5.8%
Discounts of up to 5.7% are available from Smart UK dealers for the EQ Fortwo Coupé. This translates into £1,250 off the £22,225 OTR price
Peugeot’s e-2008 is a crossover version of the smaller e-208 above. Dealers lower the OTR price by more than 5%
The study found that the 12 best discounted EVs deliver an average cash savings of six per cent – the cash equivalent of £2,185.
The Nissan Leaf 110kW Acenta tops the savings with a 14.2 per cent discount – equating to £4,105 – offered by sales staff in dealerships.
Renault outlets are also willing to discount a Zoe R135 100kW Iconic at 8.8 per cent, saving £2734.
And Peugeot’s dealer network appears to be selling the e-208 100kW Allure Premium at 5.8 per cent less than retail price – that’s £1,831 less than quoted on the French marque’s website.
Nissan’s Ariya is the latest family SUV. Despite only just reaching UK showrooms, dealers are knocking 5.2% off the £50,140 list price – that’s a saving of over £2,600
Citroen dealers appeared to be discounting the 100% electric E-C4 from £35,495 to £33,761
A rival to the Citroën E-C4 is the Vauxhall Mokka-e. Dealers are slashing prices by almost 5%, which is £1,806 off the retail price of £38,835
Jaguar, the British car brand that has to go fully electric in the next 3 years, currently has only one electric car on offer: the I-Pace. Dealers are willing to cut 4.5% off the £73,500 of one trim level
What Car?’s Target Price mystery shoppers also found that the average combined cash and cash discount for all-electric vehicles in the UK has increased by 33.3 percent over the past six months.
In comparison, the discounts for petrol and diesel models have increased by 10.8 percent and 8.8 percent respectively.
Which car? editor Steve Huntingford said: ‘Discounts on electric cars have traditionally been low because demand outstrips supply, but our latest research into target prices clearly shows that big savings are now possible on certain models.’
Mazda’s MX-30 is another EV What Car?
The Renault Megane E-Tech is yet another fairly new model coming to the UK market, with first deliveries only around the turn of the year. Nevertheless, dealers give a 4% discount on the prices
BMW’s i4 – the electric equivalent of a 3 Series – is another pricey discounted EV. Dealers are knocking almost £2k off the price of the £51,500 eDrive M Sport version
Last month, online car marketplace Auto Trader reported that buyer interest in new EVs had fallen by nearly two-thirds since the beginning of last year.
Our own data shows that the number of applications for electric cars is down 65 percent compared to 12 months earlier.
The companies Road to 2030 report attributes the decline in demand to several factors such as their premium prices, the cost of living crisis, higher loan interest rates and a rise in energy prices.
One of Britain’s largest motorcycle dealers also spoke out about declining interest in battery vehicles, saying demand is ‘cooling’ as there are not enough charging points available.
Vertu Motors denounced the “inadequate public charging infrastructure” as contributing to the slowing momentum around electric cars.
Even the British motor trade association has admitted that electric car registrations are not growing as fast as they expect or would like to see – and has already revised its sales forecast for this year and next as a result.
The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders last month lowered its predictions for the market share of electric vehicles in 2023 from 19.7 percent to 18.4 percent.
It also lowered its forecast for 2024, saying it now estimates that 22.6 percent of all registrations next year will be pure electric cars, up from the 23.3 percent it predicted in January.
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