Volkswagen Group of America President and CEO Kjell Gruner (left). — Reuters
DETROIT: One month after a US$7,500 federal US tax credit for electric vehicles (EVs) and plug-in hybrids was scrapped, automakers are rethinking their product pipelines and focusing on cheaper models to keep car buyers interested, company executives said on Wednesday at a Reuters conference in Detroit.
Volkswagen’s US chief said the company is pivoting to hybrids, which run on both petrol and batteries, as it waits to see the natural level of consumer demand for EVs.
Volkswagen historically has had few hybrid options in its lineup.
“We thought we were going to leapfrog the hybrids, but we can’t,” said Kjell Gruner, president and chief executive officer of Volkswagen Group of America. “We’re all in” on hybrids, he said.
Instead of plug-in hybrids, VW will focus on full hybrids, which he said have lower costs and higher consumer demand.
Marc Winterhoff, the interim chief of EV startup Lucid Group , said the company has absorbed half the cost of the lost credit and passed half to the customer on its electric Air sedan.
It is focused on bringing an affordable model to market by the end of next year.
Winterhoff said he is already seeing demand for battery-powered models recover as company sales incentives kick in.
“There’s clearly a dip, but we’re already seeing after two, three weeks that it’s coming back up again,” he said.
Rivian finance chief Claire McDonough said the automaker expects waning interest for its leased vehicles, and is providing deals for shoppers looking to purchase.
Only leased vehicles from Rivian and Lucid qualified for the tax credits before Sept 30. McDonough said Rivian is focused on the R2 sport utility vehicle, which it plans to launch in the first half of next year at a price around US$45,000. — Reuters
