From the Wall Street Journal via MSN, November 11:
Buyers looking to get a bargain on a new car might want to consider an electric vehicle.
As sales growth has slowed for battery-powered models, automakers and dealers are slashing prices and piling on discounts to clear out unsold inventory.
Some automakers, such as Hyundai Motor and Ford Motor, are this month offering cash rebates as high as $7,500 on some models. Others are resorting to aggressive lease deals that offer cheaper monthly payments or shorter contract lengths to attract buyers. Many car companies are offering low-interest rate promotions in an attempt to make pricey EVs more affordable.
Market leader Tesla has slashed prices this year across its lineup, reducing the starting price of some models by roughly a third. Ford Motor has also marked down its Mustang Mach-E SUV at least two times this year.
For consumers such promotions can be a boon, helping to shrink the price difference between an EV and a traditional gasoline vehicle. But it is another sign that the once-hot market for these models is losing its charge.
Car executives and dealers say the discounts and price cuts are necessary because buyers are less willing to pay a premium for an EV.
Discounts are frequently used by carmakers to grab market share or sell unpopular models, but they also dent profits and can hurt resale values for buyers owning those models.
During the pandemic, the industry pulled back on such deals, in part because they had little inventory to sell. Still today, the spending on incentives and other sales promotions has remained constrained, helping to keep profits across the car business elevated.The EV market has emerged as the one exception, partly because of new restrictions on a $7,500 federal tax for EV buyers and a more general slowing of demand for the technology, which for buyers comes with other challenges, such as needing a place to regularly plug in....
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