If you want to buy an electric car, you will have to pay more in the future: According to a study by the Center Automotive Research (CAR), the discounts are falling significantly. The discounts on combustion cars, on the other hand, are increasing.
Anyone currently considering buying an electric car should be prepared for rising prices. A recent study by the CAR Institute in Duisburg comes to the conclusion that the car manufacturers are granting fewer discounts on the 30 most important electric models. As a result, the discounts in August were an average of 16.2 percent, three percentage points below the level in July.
For example, the discount fell particularly sharply on the Smart Fortwo model. While there was a price reduction of 32.7 percent in July, it is now only 21.8 percent. For the Tesla Model 3 and Model Y, the discount fell by 5.3 and 5.0 percent, respectively, to 10.5 and 10.1 percent. The discount for the Audi Q4 e-tron (18.4 percent) and Q8 e-tron (11.8 percent) models remained unchanged.
Nothing has changed in the Mercedes models EQA (9.4 percent) and EQB (9.1 percent) either. The discount also remained the same for the VW Id3 (20.5 percent) and Id4 (17.8 percent). On the other hand, there is a higher discount for the BMW iX1 with 15.4 instead of 12.8 percent in July.
Environmental bonus will be reduced
According to the CAR Institute in Duisburg, the falling discounts have something to do with the falling environmental bonus. Since January 1, 2023, the federal share of funding for battery electric vehicles (BEV) and fuel cell vehicles with a net list price of up to 40,000 euros has been 4,500 euros. The manufacturer’s share is half, so buyers can receive a bonus of up to 6750 euros. For vehicles with a net list price of between 40,000 euros and up to 65,000 euros, the state subsidy is 3,000 euros, so that a premium of 4,500 euros would be paid with a manufacturer share of 50 percent.
But that will change in 2024: The sole reason for reducing the discounts is the reduction in the state environmental bonus for 2024 to 3,000 euros for vehicles with a net list price of less than 45,000 euros, according to the study. The manufacturer’s share is half, i.e. 1,500 euros. All other battery-electric new cars would no longer be funded at all from 2024 onwards.
Demand is likely to decrease
Because of long delivery times, many manufacturers are already factoring the lower premium into their prices, which CAR estimates will lead to falling demand in the coming months as well. According to the study, it was a “price shock for electric cars caused by federal politics shortly before the IAA”.
“In the months that follow, not only will demand for electric cars from commercial users decline, because the environmental premium will be set to zero here from September 1, but private buyers will also be very careful with orders, since there is a risk not to do the new registration until January and thus only receive the small environmental bonus.”
According to the CAR experts, the result will be an intensified price war in the German electric car market, which will lead to significant profit cuts for German car manufacturers.
Higher discounts on combustion engines
The situation is different with combustion vehicles, for which the car manufacturers are granting ever higher price reductions. On average, the discounts were 17.8 percent and thus higher than they have been for two years. The trend is likely to continue in the coming months, it said.
Because: The economic data are not very encouraging, reluctance to buy characterizes the picture, and the high order backlog at the beginning of the year is “old news”. VW in particular is offering its vehicles at higher discounts. The conclusion of the experts is: “The pre-IAA month of August reveals the fragile situation on the German car market.”