Electric car ‘pricing stability is very important’: Mini
Mini wants to ensure customer satisfaction and predictable resale value by keeping its electric cars prices static, unlike rivals like Tesla and BYD.
According to Mini Australia, stable electric car pricing is key for customer confidence and assurance as the brand looks to carve a slice of the EV market with its new-generation Countryman.
Speaking to Drive, Mini Australia and New Zealand head of product planning James Orlov said moving pricing up and down in line with currency fluctuations, or competitors’ actions, is not what the brand wants to do.
“Lots of price fluctuation, it’s not ideal for a customer,” Orlov said.
“If you just bought a Tesla a year ago at whatever [price] it was, and now it’s whatever much cheaper? You probably don’t feel so good.
“So that stability is really important with this new generation of [Mini] cars.
“Playing with pricing can have big consequences with stuff like [customer satisfaction and resale value].”
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As Orlov pointed out, Tesla has been rejigging pricing for its Model 3 and Model Y this year to try and maintain its popularity in the electric car market.
For example, the most affordable Model Y SUV has had its pricing fall three times since the start of the year where it sat at $65,400 before on-road costs in January before Tesla took $1500 off the asking price at the start of April, an additional $3000 at the end of April, and slashed a further $5000 in May.
The base Tesla Model Y RWD is currently priced at $55,900.
Similarly, the Model 3 RWD sedan has also jumped up and down in price since order books opened in May 2019, hitting a high of $73,900 in July 2020 and now sitting at an all-time low of $54,900.
However, Tesla has not been the only brand reshuffling electric car prices, with the BYD Atto 3, MG4, Renault Megane E-Tech, and GWM Ora all receiving cuts this year, while promotional offers on the Nissan Leaf, Peugeot e-2008, and Fiat 500e have saved customers thousands of dollars.
Mini, meanwhile, is confident with its Countryman EV pricing, which kicks off from $64,990 before on-road costs for the E Core and extends to $77,990 for the SE JCW.
“We have the advantage of the whole [Countryman] generation being launched at the same time,” Orlov said.
“So, when we talk about how expensive or cheap should a car be, or should a Mini be, often you have to look at it within the portfolio of what’s there already.
“We had the opportunity to have a good look at where we position our cars, our brand, we see ourselves as, you know, small and premium.”
For reference, the petrol-powered Countryman line-up is positioned between $49,990 for the C Core and $63,990 for the S JCW Sports variant – putting the all-electric versions at least $15,000 upmarket.
“Electric cars are expensive to build, so there is, at the moment, a price premium over the petrol equivalent,” Orlov said.
“But it was really important for us to make sure that the specification, what you get in the car, between an electric and a petrol, is no different – they are all Minis, one just happens to be electric, and one just happens to be petrol.”
Mr Orlov said Mini will continue to monitor what the EV market is doing and where new models – most from China with the likes of Xpeng, Zeekr, and Leapmotor preparing to come online in Australia – will land.
“It seems like Tesla and BYD … it’s interesting to watch,” Orlov said.
“The market is still trying to determine how expensive should an electric car be relative to a petrol version, and SUVs in particular because that’s the big-ticket segment in Australia.
“Look, it is competitive, you can’t live in a bubble, you’ve got to keep an eye on what the market is doing.
“But at the same time particularly with a car [Countryman] that’s just launched, it’s just got here, that pricing stability is very important.”
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