Citroen UK has slashed the price of its rebadged Mitsubishi i-MiEV C-Zero electric car from GBP33,155 to GBP26,216. The GBP5,000 government plug-in car grant further reduces the ‘on-the-road’ price to qualified applicants to GBP21,216, GBP4,700 less than Nissan’s larger Leaf which costs GBP25,990 after the grant.
Citroen is also offering new ‘contract hire’ [lease] deals from GBP249 per month over three years and 30,000 miles and has increased the number of ‘EV specialist’ dealers handling the EV from 11 to 21 dealers, all in UK cities not covered by the original network.
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“Further expansion is set to continue as part of a staged roll-out as market acceptance of electric vehicles increases and sales volumes grow,” the automaker said in a statement.
The aftersales EV network will be extended from the 11 initial dealers to a network of around 100 locations in coming months. All newly appointed EV service dealers have already received specialist training as part of the DS5 Hybrid4 launch, also allowing them to service and repair the C-Zero and future Citroën EV models.
Citroën’s UK EV range will grow at the beginning of 2013 with the introduction of a new electric Berlingo van which will qualify for the recently announced extension to the government’s EV grant, with a maximum of GBP8,000 subsidy for the purchase price of electric commercial vehicles.
Citroën UK managing director Linda Jackson: “2011 marked the introduction of EVs in the UK. 2012 will see the market continue to grow as the technology becomes more accepted by consumers, more manufacturers enter the market and the charging infrastructure continues to develop. Citroën has been at the forefront with C-Zero and this latest announcement confirms the next stage in our development plans.”
According to data supplied by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT), the Leaf topped the EV car sales charts in the UK last year with 645 registrations, followed by the i-MiEV (125), Peugeot iOn (124) and C-Zero (36). For the first two months of 2012, the tallies were Leaf, 23; i-MiEV, 7; C-Zero, 5 and iOn, 3.
