Tesla unleashes the price war, more cuts to American price lists
Elon Musk seems intent on unleashing a real price war in 2023: a new cut to the Tesla price lists. Ford in the wake, several Chinese as well, but the Europeans are not there
No one around Tesla will ever admit it, but Elon Musk 's plan is to ramp up the installed base before Chinese cars arrive. Because 2023 will be the year of the landing in the West of some of the main Asian brands, capable of seducing European and American motorists with their incredibly competitive prices, which derive both from state holdings in the various manufacturers, and above all from the farsighted industrial chain that Beijing was able to set up in time, grabbing the main deposits of rare earths in Africa, first by looking at the lithium batteries of laptops, smartphones and tablets and then at those of electric cars.
THE TESLA PRICE WAR IN NUMBERS
That's why 2023 looks like the year of Tesla's aggressive pricing policies. Let's also not forget what Reuters anticipated a few days ago, namely that the most valuable car manufacturer in the world – with a capitalization of 625.83 billion and a share that has been in strong recovery since the beginning of 2023 (+60%) – will start producing by 2024 a new version of the Model 3 and will modify the Model Y. In the meantime, the watchword is sell, sell, sell.
And now, after the interventions in China and Europe, a second cut in the USA. This time the price list of the Model S is $5,000 and the Model X is $10,000. The base price of the all-wheel drive (AWD) notchback has been reduced from $94,900 to $89,990 and that of the Plaid version from $114,990 to $109,990. As for the SUV, the price list now starts from 99,990 for the AWD and no longer from 109,990, while the Plaid drops from 119,990 to 109,990.
As we recalled, this is not the first intervention this year: in January, a cut of over 20% to the price lists of all models in the range was ordered. And the interventions in the other markets had led to a real domino effect, with houses willing to follow the direction taken by Musk and others that proudly deviated from it.
“Our goal,” Volkswagen CEO Oliver Blume said in a recent interview with the German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeinen Sonntagszeitung , “is not size at any price. Our ambitions must be focused on added value, on profitable growth”.
Naturally, this does not mean that the Group intends to abdicate its role as European leader in the production of electric cars, on the contrary, the goal is to become "a global leader", simply "We have a clear pricing strategy and aim about reliability,” the German manager hissed. “We have full confidence in the strength of our products and brands.”
The new CEO of the Renault brand Fabrice Cambolive , had said: “If you reduce by 10% or more within a week, this affects the residual values of the cars and hurts customers. Stability is important to us."
However, the 54-year-old manager at the helm of the Boulogne-Billancourt brand had left a window open: "It is foreseeable that the prices of electric vehicles will become the subject of examination", but it is clear that without a European policy in support of manufacturers, the margins action remain limited. In short, the cuts will hardly be significant.
THE OTHER AMERICAN ON THE FOOT OF WAR
Also in the States, Ford also took action by announcing cuts for the Mustang Mach-E, one of the most successful electric cars in the States, which vary between 1.2% and 8.7% equal to about 4,500 dollars, where the most performing and equipped versions benefit the most.
Compared to Tesla, which has had to deal with the anger of customers who bought cars at full price, Ford has opted for a retroactive cut: that is, valid since last January 1st.
THE PRICE WAR BETWEEN CHINESE
And then there are the Chinese, who now have to get by even without incentives , with a market that is already showing the first signs of a slowdown. Seres was the first to announce a reduction of at least 30,000 yuan (4,200 euros) for all its models.
It was closely followed by Xpeng which reduced the base price of the P7 sedan to 209,900 yuan (about 28,660 euros), 12.5% less than before. According to Reuters , all versions of the P5 and the sporty G3 have been lowered, with cuts ranging from 10% to 13%.
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/smartcity/tesla-scatena-la-guerra-dei-prezzi-altri-tagli-ai-listini-americani/ on Tue, 07 Mar 2023 12:40:33 +0000.