Vauxhall says the £3,000 price cut for the Ampera has to be seen in the context of the whole electric vehicle market, which is only running at 30 per cent of the expected level.
The company maintains that the whole market is disappointing, rather than representing a specific problem with the Ampera, which is now available from £28,750.
However, even in relative terms, Vauxhall Ampera sales have been disappointing. It is outsold by the Nissan Leaf by more than five to one in the UK. Nissan's EV sold 530 units in the first half of 2013. By comparison, less than 100 private buyers purchased a Chevrolet Volt, Vauxhall Ampera or Renault Fluence in the same period.
As one manufacturer put it at the Frankfurt motor show, “The public thinks emissions are a problem, but they think it is a problem for the industry, not for them. They see no reason why they should pay extra to reduce CO2”.
Model / starting price 2012 / starting price 2013 / Total first half sales 2013
Chevrolet Volt: £30,225 (2012), £27,255* (2013), Sales: 23
Nissan Leaf: £25,990 (2012), £20,990 (2013), Sales: 825
Renault Fluence**: £17,850 (2012), £17,845 (2013), Sales: 7
Vauxhall Ampera: £32,250 (2012), £28,750 (2013), Sales: 150
* price cut expected within weeks
** Batteries are leased separately at a cost of £2772 for first three years.
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Problem
The Ampera (and, thus, Vauxhall) has one big problem - why on earth would anybody buy this when, for about 2 grand less, they can have exactly the same car with a Chevrolet badge on?
Why pay more? No one wants to.
I worked for Eastern Electricity in the 90's. They introduced a "green tariff" that added 1p per unit of lekky. The take-up was very low and it was eventually dropped in favour of "going green" as standard, to try to attract customers. No one wanted to pay extra.
Now I work in food retail and it's the same with organic food. For instance, customers will often split bags of organic bananas and put them in plain bags meant for loose bananas, so that they pay less.
Even before they cut the
Even before they cut the price they should have shot whoever cursed it with the name Ampera.