Mitsubishi Motors, aiming to improve sluggish sales, has slashed the price of its electric minicar, i-MiEV, in Japan by up to US$9,100.
Electric vehicle makers are facing slower than projected acceptance of the technology, Reuters noted.
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The automaker said that it was reducing cost of its top of the range i-MiEV, which it started selling in 2009, by approximately 25% or JPY900,000 (US$9,100) to JPY2.9m. The model can be bought for approximately JPY2m in Japan, after government subsidies.
A Mitsubishi Motors spokesman said: “The main purpose of cutting the price is to strengthen our ability to sell these cars.” The carmaker has also reduced the cost of the entry level i-MiEV by JPY190,000 to JPY2.5m. With subsidies, it can be bought for around JPY1.7m.
Due to issues over driving range, customer resistance to pay a premium price over similar-sized petrol-powered cars and lack of a charging infrastructure, EVs have not captured market share as fast as some expected. This has led the automaker to reduce prices in the US and Japan.
Mitsubishi still plans for electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids to account for 20% of its vehicle production by 2020. Company president Osamu Masuko had acknowledged earlier in November that the company failed to achieve the results it had expected in EVs.
He said: “But I have been repeating that the electric vehicle technology has not necessarily been rejected. In the future, they are likely to be well accepted, depending on the model.”
Nissan Motor and Mitsubishi plan to expand their JV for the development of a new small car including an electric version. Nissan also said it would start selling its second all-electric vehicle, e-NV200 – a commercial van – in Japan in the fiscal year ending March 2015. The vehicle will be sold globally later.
