LThe affair moved French fans of beautiful Americans in October. The price of the legendary Mustang, which is now available in an electric version (Mach-E) and SUV look, has dropped suddenly by 11,200 euros. A discount which makes it eligible for the ecological bonus, which represents a total discount of 30% compared to the displayed price! Of course, Ford first aligned itself with its competitor Tesla, initiating the price war from 2022. But the practice is now spreading like wildfire.
In the United States, Hyundai’s Ioniq 5 saw its price drop by $9,400 (8,785 euros). In Europe, according to a study by the HSBC bank, cited by the Financial Times, Monday November 13, BMW is now offering 20% discounts on its i4 model in Germany, Peugeot is doing the same in the United Kingdom with its electric 208. In total, according to HSBC, discounts on electric cars are 11% in the United Kingdom, 10% in the United States and 7% in Germany.
Gone are the days when buyer queues allowed manufacturers to put whatever prices they wanted on the hood of their cars. The discount time is back. This sudden reversal is caused by the slowdown in sales growth. Certainly, according to the Association of European Automobile Manufacturers, sales of these zero-emission models still increased by 14.3% in September in the European Union, but with some notable declines, such as this − 20% in Germany, due to reduced subsidies.
German lobbying
The reality is that rising rates are starting to dampen buyers’ enthusiasm. Especially since the German lobbying to authorize thermal cars with synthetic fuel beyond 2035 and the British attempts to postpone the end of the sale of gasoline engines has sowed confusion in people’s minds. As a result, many manufacturers are postponing their colossal investment projects, such as Volkswagen for its fourth battery factory, citing a “market slowdown”.
It is in this context that the French government concocts its 100 euro leasing. But its allocation conditions, reserved for the most modest, are unlikely to change the situation. To do this, we would need to act, upstream, on corporate and rental fleets, which massively supply the second-hand market, and, downstream, on infrastructure. An overview of the difficulties of the energy transition, as is also the case with real estate, when interest rates explode and the slump sets in. A nice discount on a beautiful American woman won’t be enough to change the world.