In the age of uber-expensive vehicles, the CEO of Stellantis is making a bold pledge.
In March of this year, the average sale price of a new vehicle was more than $47,000 – a sum that’s out of reach for many Americans. And if you’re in the market for a new electric, that figure balloons another 10%, says CarEdge.
With that in mind, automakers have explored ways to drive down costs of new EVs and they’re making some tangible progress. And it appears Stellantis, an OEM that’s been slow to bring EVs to market stateside, is preparing to leapfrog the competition on price.
According to recent comments by chief executive Carlos Tavares, buyers can expect a new Jeep electric to hit the U.S. market “very soon” with a notably low price: Tavares says it will start around $25,000.
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At a recent investor conference, Tavares explained that the company would leverage its global engineering chops to bring this vehicle to the U.S. at an attractive price point, much like its done with the $20,000 euro Citroen e-C3 in Europe.
Tavares describes this price point as a benchmark for affordability and says the company’s job “is to bring the safe, clean and affordable BEV to the U.S., $25,000. We’ll do it.”
This is a tall order considering Stellantis has just one fully electric on the market here, the newly released Fiat 500e. That said, if Stellantis wants to make a splash in the EV sector, doing so by way of its Jeep brand offers the greatest chance of success: Stellantis says it currently holds 47% market share of U.S. plug-in electric hybrids, led by two Jeeps: the 4xe Wrangler and Grand Cherokee.
Still, it won’t be easy. When referring to the swath of challenges currently facing automakers, Tavares said “We are in the storm, and this storm is going to last a few years.”
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