Will Ford be Next to Cut the Price of EVs in the US After Announcing China Discounts

Ford has announced a discount of 40,000 yuan (approx. $5,700) for its Mustang Mach-E electric sports utility vehicle (SUV) in China.

The discount will apply to the Chinese market until the end of April 2023 and has raised speculation over whether the automaker will also announce discounts for the US market.

Ford announces discounts for Mustang Mach-E electric SUVs in China

After this discount was implemented, Mustang Mach-E cars can now be purchased in China, starting at 209,900 yuan.

The US automaker dropped the prices for the Mach-E by around $5,900 in the local US market to keep up with competition from leading EV maker Tesla.

 

Tesla has already reduced the price of its best-selling Model Y crossover, forcing other EV makers to make the change.

In November, Ford announced that it would accelerate the production of the Mustang Mach-E.

At the time, the automaker targeted a global annual output rate of 270,000 by the end of the year, with the figure including those of the Chinese production plant. This model is manufactured by Ford’s plants in China and Mexico.

Last year, Ford successfully sold the Mach-Es model in the United States and during the year, sold 39,458 Mach-Es – 45% more than the company sold in 2021.

Ford appears to be making the model more popular in China because it has struggled to increase Mach-E sales in the country, with March-E sales in China minimal at 7,782 units in 2022.

Tesla’s Model Y recorded 455,091 sales, indicating that Tesla had more penetration in the Chinese EV market.

Developments in the EV Industry

The push for environmental sustainability has triggered significant growth in the global EV market.

EV makers have been taking measures to boost their presence in the industry and emerge as more competitive.

Last week, Tesla announced that it would build its next gigafactory in Mexico that could be used to manufacture the company’s next-generation vehicle.

During the week, the company also celebrated the release of its 4 millionth vehicle at Giga Texas.

While Tesla is seeing growth in operations, the same cannot be said for other EV makers such as Rivian.

Rivian announced plans to sell $1.3 billion in bonds to unlock capital that the company desperately needs to address the drop in demand and the lofty costs.

The company said:

“The notes will be senior, unsecured obligations of Rivian, will accrue interest payable semi-annually in arrears, and will mature on March 15, 2029, unless earlier repurchased, redeemed or converted.”

The EV market changes could force more companies to make changes to address the slowing demand and meet production costs.

Nevertheless, Tesla appears to be still leading the EV race – the company closed Q4 2022 with $24.3 billion in revenues, a 37% growth from the same quarter in the previous year.