Auto giants launch a flurry of cheaper electric vehicles — taking the fight to China

PARIS, France — Several of Europe's biggest carmakers unveiled low-cost electrical vehicles (EVs) astatine the Paris Motor Show this week, seeking to jump-start a request slump and recapture immoderate of the market stock present held by Chinese brands.

It is thought that the biennial manufacture showcase, which opened successful Paris connected Monday and runs done to Sunday, could beryllium to beryllium a turning constituent for Europe's car industry.

"It feels similar Europe is warring back," Julia Poliscanova, elder manager for vehicles and e-mobility proviso chains astatine the Transport & Environment run group, told CNBC astatine the Paris Motor Show.

"There are truthful galore caller models connected show, and what is truly large is that determination are a batch of launches that are much affordable. So, Citroen, Peugeot [and] Renault, they are each showing immoderate smaller affordable models," Poliscanova said.

"This is precisely what we request for the wide market, for radical to bargain those vehicles more, and this is besides wherever the contention from the Chinese is besides the hardest," she added.

European car giants person been contending with a perfect storm of challenges connected the roadworthy to afloat electrification, including a deficiency of affordable models, a lower-than-anticipated rollout of charging infrastructure and a brewing commercialized warfare with China.

The unit connected European automakers is poised to ratchet up further adjacent year, erstwhile emissions-reduction targets travel into force, with immoderate calling for urgent alleviation measures to debar the imaginable of hefty fines.

It is against this backdrop that car manufacturers, acutely alert of the request to boost EV sales, person sought to usage the Paris Motor Show arsenic a level to motorboat an array of low-cost models.

French carmaker Renault, for instance, presented the Twingo E-Tech electrical prototype to the nationalist for the archetypal time. It says prices for the all-electric car volition commencement astatine little than 20,000 euros ($21,800) erstwhile it reaches the marketplace successful 2026.

Renault besides unveiled its tiny electrical SUV, the R4 and is already receiving orders for its electrical R5 model. The group's Dacia marque presented its Spring model, hailing it arsenic 1 of the astir affordable EVs connected the marketplace — besides coming successful astatine little than 20,000 euros.

Auto elephantine Stellantis, meanwhile, launched the caller compact Citroen C4 and C4 X, describing the models arsenic "perfect examples" of the automaker's effect to the challenges of the vigor transition.

"The storytelling is that radical person cooled disconnected connected EVs and determination is nary user demand, [but] this is truly not true," Transport & Environment's Poliscanova said.

"This twelvemonth successful Europe, we did not person affordable models, truthful radical are not buying those overpriced premium vehicles. However, arsenic soon arsenic vehicles travel successful the close terms scope adjacent twelvemonth … radical volition flock to bargain them."

Poliscanova said the motorboat of respective low-cost EVs means electrical car income could relationship for up to a 24% marketplace stock adjacent year, up from 14% this year.

Chinese-made EVs typically outgo little than fractional the prices seen successful Europe and the U.S. past year, according to figures published by information steadfast JATO, underscoring the situation for Western automakers to support gait with Beijing.

The mean retail terms of a artillery electrical car successful China came successful astatine astir 31,000 euros successful the archetypal fractional of 2023, JATO said. By comparison, the mean retail terms of a artillery electrical car implicit the aforesaid play was implicit 66,000 euros successful Europe and 68,000 euros successful the U.S.

"People are looking for affordable mobility," Dacia CEO Denis Le Vot told CNBC's Charlotte Reed astatine the Paris Motor Show connected Monday.

"We are wholly renewing the Spring astatine this precise infinitesimal … with a full caller signifier to the 2024 edition, caller engine, 64 horsepower, caller steering system, caller physics architecture — for little than 20,000 euros. Not that galore afloat electrical vehicles successful Europe for little than that price," helium added.

"So, again adjacent successful the EV, Dacia plays a relation of affordable mobility," Le Vot said, noting that much than 150,000 Spring models person been sold successful Europe.

Pere Brugal, president and managing manager of GM Europe, said that the challenges facing Europe's car manufacture should beryllium seen arsenic a transitional signifier — and not grounds of a crisis.

"The adoption of caller technologies and caller behaviors is ne'er a linear maturation story, but the extremity is full-electric [vehicles]," Brugal told CNBC astatine the Paris Motor Show.

Some of the industry's challenges travel down to the request to alteration learned behaviors, Brugal said, alternatively than to carnal oregon method roadblocks.

"Having much concern successful nationalist charging infrastructure volition assistance but, successful reality, determination is already a large web of charging that allows for electrical conveyance mobility successful Europe close now," helium added.