Electric Vehicle 'Fierce Price War'... Following Half-Price Tesla, Stellantis Also Joins the Battle

Tesla and Volkswagen Also Announce Half-Price Electric Cars
Intense Price War in EV Industry Due to Chinese Low-Cost Offensive

Following Tesla, multinational automaker Stellantis has also announced the launch of an electric vehicle priced in the 30 million won range. This reflects the intensifying price competition in the global automotive industry in response to the low-cost offensive of Chinese electric vehicles.

On the 29th (local time), according to major foreign media including the US economic outlet CNBC, Carlos Tavares, CEO of Stellantis, stated at the Bernstein Investment Conference that "just as the Citro?n e-C3 was launched at 20,000 euros (about 30 million won) in Europe, we will introduce a Jeep priced at $25,000 (about 34 million won) in the US." Jeep is Stellantis's popular SUV brand, and it plans to release the all-electric Jeep Wagoneer S to the market by the end of this year.

[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

CEO Tavares said, "If someone asks what a 'reasonable pure electric vehicle' is, I would say 20,000 euros in Europe and $25,000 in the US," adding, "What we need to do is bring safe, clean, and affordable electric vehicles to the US at $25,000, and we will do that."

Recently, the global electric vehicle industry has been engaged in fierce price competition due to the flood of low-cost models from China, including BYD. In February, BYD attracted market attention by unveiling the electric vehicle 'Dolphin' priced at $13,900 (about 18 million won). Earlier, Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, who had announced plans to launch a low-cost electric vehicle 'Model 2' priced below $25,000, stated in an April conference call that production of Model 2 would begin in 2025. Volkswagen also joined the half-price electric vehicle lineup by revealing the silhouette of the ID.1, an affordable electric vehicle priced in the 20 million won range, just two days ago.

CEO Tavares described the price competition ignited by China's low-cost offensive as "a very challenging and confusing time," predicting that "this storm will last for several years." He further assessed that Stellantis would better respond to the "China invasion" by equalizing the cost structures of pure electric vehicles and traditional internal combustion engine vehicles within "up to three years."

Meanwhile, the US government decided on the 14th to significantly increase tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles from the existing 25% to 100% to curb the low-cost offensive by Chinese companies. Import tariffs on lithium-ion batteries and parts will also rise from 7.5% to 25%. However, the industry criticizes that while such heavy tariff policies may buy time in competition with Chinese companies, they cannot provide a fundamental solution.