The prices for combustion engines have recently risen sharply, and the price gap to electric cars is shrinking. This is also shown by a comparison of the VW Golf with the ID.3.
Customers in Germany have to dig significantly deeper into their pockets for a new car. The average transaction prices for the 20 most popular combustion engines have risen sharply since April, according to an analysis by industry expert Ferdinand Dudenhöffer. On average they were around 33,000 euros in September – an increase of a good ten percent compared to April.
The prices for electric cars also rose – but only by a good four percent. The average price was 40,500 euros. This means that the price gap between combustion engines and electric vehicles shrinks to 23 percent; in April it was still 30 percent.
Higher list prices for combustion engines
Although these values must be interpreted with a certain degree of caution, their calculation does not take into account the weighting of the sales figures for the individual models. However, they still provide a clear indication of the direction in which the market is developing.
“A strategy appears to be taking hold to slowly reduce the price difference through higher price increases for combustion engines,” says industry expert Dudenhöffer. “So no higher discounts on electric cars, but higher list prices for combustion engines.”
VW is making combustion engines more expensive – and making electric cars cheaper
In this context, a look at VW is illuminating. The ailing Wolfsburg car company significantly increased prices in mid-September. After that, prices rise across all engine and equipment lines by an average of 2.1 to 3.2 percent, as the trade magazine “Auto, Motor und Sport” reported.
A closer look reveals an interesting strategy that differs from the one that Dudenhöffer describes in his study. The DAX group is making some of its combustion engines significantly more expensive, while at the same time reducing the prices of many electric cars through high discounts.
High discounts for ID.3
For example, the bestseller VW Golf now costs 1,150 euros more and can therefore only be had for just under 30,000 euros. The entry-level petrol engine costs from 28,330 euros, the variant version (estate) from 29,430 euros. The in-house Golf competitor ID.3 Pure, on the other hand, is 3,600 euros cheaper from today; the price therefore falls to 33,300 euros.
However, the VW e-mobility bonus of 3,570 euros, which the group grants to both private and commercial customers for all new ID. class cars – initially until the end of the year – will be deducted from this. The bottom line is that VW customers still have to pay 29,760 euros for an ID.3 Pure.
Why VW needs to increase electric car sales
The business calculation behind these price adjustments? Most ID.3s that will be ordered from October will probably not be delivered until 2025. Then the new, stricter CO2 targets of the European Union (EU) apply to automobile manufacturers. The average emissions of the new cars sold must then fall from the current 116 g/km to less than 93.6 g/km – i.e. by more than 19 percent.
For comparison: The Volkswagen Group is currently in the lead according to analysts at Dataforce at 123 g/km. In other words: The people of Wolfsburg can use any electric car to meet the new EU requirements. Especially since if the limit is exceeded, penalties of 95 euros per gram of CO2 per vehicle are due. For a mass manufacturer like VW, this can quickly lead to fines amounting to several hundred million euros.