Mercedes-Benz Group AG cut prices on two electric vehicle (EV) models in China by as much as US$33,000 as heated competition in the world’s biggest EV market affects sales.
The luxury automaker said in a statement on its Web site on Tuesday that it was reducing prices on some models from its EQ range, effective yesterday, and that it would provide subsidies to people who recently bought the vehicles.
The cuts seemed to be immediate, with the EQE priced at 478,000 yuan (US$67,675) on Mercedes’ Chinese Web site yesterday morning, compared with 528,000 yuan as recently as Tuesday.
The EQS luxury edition model was listed at 956,000 yuan yesterday, down from 1.19 million yuan on Tuesday, equivalent to a reduction of about US$33,000.
Mercedes is making the cuts because sales have been disappointing in China, people familiar with the company’s plans said.
Some dealers have already been carrying out promotions to try to boost sales, with EQS deliveries at times dropping to as low as 100 a month, the people said.
The EQS is the all-electric version of Mercedes’ flagship S-Class model, a vehicle that is meant to showcase the automaker’s most advanced technologies.
In a statement to Bloomberg News, Mercedes said the top-end EV segment in China is still evolving, especially for vehicles priced above 1 million yuan.
“Mercedes-Benz continually observes and analyzes dynamic market developments, including the current positioning of other manufacturers in the luxury segment. Based on that, Mercedes-Benz is repositioning certain EQ models in China,” it said.
Foreign and legacy vehicle brands are falling behind rising local names in China, with domestic automakers accounting for almost 80 percent of EV sales in the first seven months of this year, China Passenger Car Association data showed.
Mercedes sold about 8,800 EVs in the country from January to July, data from the China Automotive Technology and Research Center showed, including less-expensive EQA, EQB and EQC models.
Chinese EV giant BYD Co (比亞迪), which targets more of the middle market, sold nearly 220,000 EVs last month alone.
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