Peugeot e-Partner price cut by $14K

ACCORDING to auto industry statistician VFACTS, Peugeot has sold nearly 250 Partner small vans as at the end of May; but details of how many of these were ICE-powered and how many were fully electric e-Partners is not provided.

Based on a promotion announced this week by Peugeot – offering around $14,000 off the price of the MY23 e-Partner to $49,990 drive-away – it would be reasonable to assume the small BEV van’s sales rate is slow at best…

The significant price cut follows hard on the heels of an even greater price cut of $25,000 for the Peugeot e-2008 small electric SUV that dropped from $59,990 excluding on road costs to $39,990 drive away.

Launched last year, the e-Partner promised van operators a “tried and tested business partner for over 20 years, the appeal of the Partner van's range has been enhanced with this latest addition offering unrivalled comfort in a utility vehicle, as well as the freedom to choose between a petrol engine or an electric motor”.

In various sizes, petrol-powered Partner is available from $32,990 up to $43,490 excluding on-road costs, making the latter now virtually on par pricewise with the discounted MY23 e-Partner.

The price cut comes amid a wave of BEV discounts rolling out in the past few months across Australia headed by Ford Australia which has taken a hatchet to Mustang Mach-E pricing in two chunks totalling about $15 grand, the same amount sliced from the E-Transit’s price a few weeks ago.

Also “adjusting” their BEV pricing (presumably because of old stock and slow sales) were MG across a couple of electric models by as much as $6000, Nissan sliced $10,000 off Leaf pricing, Subaru cut Solterra price by $8000 before it even went to market and Polestar offered the Polestar 2 at a discount of up to $15K in pursuit of market share.

That’s not forgetting Tesla which has been price cutting its way to market share for some time here and overseas and GWM which has also slashed up to $8000 while adding drive away pricing on the Ora.

Nearly all the discounts are or have been for a limited time often linked to the end of the financial year so is it feasible to extrapolate from the above that BEV sales in Australia haven’t achieved the level expected or anticipated by some importers?

The answer would be yes, with a corollary to that being buyers would have a keen eye on their wallet at the moment bucking at paying over the odds for a BEV and are likely sceptical as to operating one on a day-to-day basis particularly recharging.

In relation to the Peugeot e-Partner, it is only available in long wheelbase format and is powered by a 50kWh lithium-ion battery feeding a 100kW/260Nm electric traction motor to the front wheels. Its range is a claimed 258km WLTP tested.

The small van is built on Peugeot’s EMP-2 modular multi-energy-platform, the French manufacturer saying “the e-Partner works like a van but provides the smooth performance, direct handling and comfort of a Sports Utility Vehicle (SUV)”.

Peugeot says in promotional material that the e-Partner was “designed with the needs of a commercial van customer in mind, particularly an understanding that volume and use of the cargo space along with ease of handling and manoeuvrability are key considerations when purchasing”.

To address these requirements, the e-Partner combines compact external dimensions with maximum loading capacities with the batteries located under the floor not impacting on the van’s 3.9 cubic meters loading volume which is identical to the internal combustion variant.

The model has a turning circle of 11.4m, and is 4750mm long, 2100mm wide with mirrors open, and is less than 1900mm high facilitating underground car park access.

It has dual rear swing barn doors, six tie-down rings in the cargo bay and a payload of up to 753kg.

At the launch of the e-Partner, Kate Gillis, managing director Peugeot Australia, said: "Not only does the Peugeot e-Partner's highly anticipated arrival herald what is to come on our electrification journey in Australia, it also offers a compelling alternative to an important audience: businesses who are looking to make the move to electric when considering how to power their operations”.

“There's no doubt that Partner's reputation as a capable, adaptable and efficient workhorse will be bolstered by the benefits of a fully electric mobility solution,” she added.

Discount pricing on new or demo MY23 e-Partner van is available between June 1 and June 30, 2024.